A Pirates Heart for Me
by DaringDreamer
Summary: Elizabeth is all set to live out her life on an island, waiting for Will's return. Jack is all set to go retreive the Pearl, again, and go find the Fountain of Youth. There is just one thing stopping them... each other. Takes place after AWE.
1. Chapter 1

Pirates Heart for Me

**Takes place after AWE and is looked at from both Jack and Elizabeth's perspectives. I do not own any Disney characters.**

Ch 1

Elizabeth stood on the beach of the island. Now, as she stood alone on the shore and watched her new husband sail away from her, the waves gently lapping over her feet, she understood why Jack called such a place a "spit of land." The island really was just that. Despite the beauty of the lush green plants at her back and the soft, white sand at her feet, she couldn't help staring and longing for the clear blue waves before her.

Elizabeth shook her head and turned her back on the beautiful sea. She was faced with the chest, the chest that held the still beating heart of her husband. "Captain of the flying Dutchman..." she whispered as she stared down at it. Tears began welling up in her eyes. It all seemed so unfair. She loved Will. She had since she was little and first met him that fateful day when they pulled him from the water. She loved him for his bravery, for his gentleman like nature, for his honest heart. Yet, no matter how much she told herself that she loved him, something nagged at her. Something had kept her from uttering those three simple words to her husband Will. She never told him that she loved him. Something held her back every time.

She choked out a sob and decided it wasn't worth holding back any longer. She fell to the sand in front of the chest and cried. She cried for the feelings she had, so mysterious. Sadness for the loss of Norrington and her father. She cried for the loneliness that threatened to already overwhelm her and she cried for the loss of her husband and friend. Her cries were accompanied by anguished shouts and screams. She screamed at that nagging feeling, the feeling that gave birth to another... regret.

Her head snapped up suddenly, realization hitting her in the gut. She regretted something, something that it was far too late to change. Something she would be bound to, regret or no, for 10 long years. Her marriage to one William Turner. And she was certain of who made her regret it.

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Captain Jack Sparrow hummed to himself as he took a swig of rum and took another glance down at the chart piece in front of him. A smirk appeared on his handsome face, a gold tooth peeking out from behind his lip, glinting in the sunlight. He was a clever one and he knew it. To snatch the chart from right under Barbossa's nose was just one of an infinite list of his cunning deeds but it made it no less impressive a feat. Jack knew that, although his nemesis had gotten away with his ship, the Black Pearl, once again, the older pirate was utterly lost without the chart piece that he possessed.

"Really bad eggs..." Jack chuckled and drank again from his rum bottle. "Drink up me hearties yo ho!" He tilted his face back to soak up the sun and feeling of accomplishment as the seas gentle waves rocked his small boat. The smile slowly began to droop as his mind began to run free. The Pearl was not all he had lost this day. The ship wasn't the only thing that had been snatched away from him. And it hadn't been Barbossa who had stolen it away from him.

Jack grunted and sat up quickly, looking around for something to busy himself with. He stood up, surveying the water around him. An idea seemed to jump to mind and, the smile returning, he reached to his sash and produced a small compass. He flipped open the top and looked expectantly down at the needle. It spun directionless for a moment before stopping. Jack looked in the direction it pointed. He cocked his head to the side and frowned. He shook the thing a bit and looked at it. The needle hadn't been disturbed. "Oh bugger..." he muttered to himself as he sat down on the small seat beneath him. "This just messes up all me plans."

**This is my first ****fanfic**** so let me know what you think. I actually have a lot of chapters already done. They get longer, I promise. This is just a little taste, a little test to see how people respond. Reviews are much appreciated and encouraged. **


	2. Chapter 2

Ch 2

Elizabeth opened her eyes and realized that she had fallen asleep right on the ground in the sand. Her arms were wrapped protectively around the chest and the sun was now peeking over the treetops. She sat up and stretched her aching muscles. The position she had rested in was far from comfortable. The sun made her forget her worries, if only for a moment. It was truly beautiful, the rays catching the gentle waves of the sea, glinting brilliantly.

With a sigh, Elizabeth brushed herself off and, once again, turned her back on the sea. A part of her, a large, impossible to ignore part of her, really wanted a life on the sea. Not for the first time she felt overwhelmed by the frustration of it all. She had become so independent. She was a pirate at heart and she knew it ever since Jack had called her one on that fateful day. The day she would regret for the rest of her life.

"I sure never will regret that kiss." she admitted to herself aloud. " That much was true when I told him I was not sorry. The only thing I regret is killing him." Guilt crashed into her making her feel suddenly weak. She ignored the feeling and began a lazy stroll down the beach, keeping her eyes peeled for coconuts or fruit or some kind of nutrients to eat. Although food was the last thing on her mind she knew she had to eat. Despite her attempts to keep the infamous Jack Sparrow out of her mind he always seemed to find his way back.

After she and the crew had rescued Jack from Davey's locker, things were rocky between the Captain and the Port Royal beauty. Jack didn't like death, didn't like it at all. And he had no one to blame but Elizabeth. That about tore Elizabeth up. She never realized just how much she valued Jack's companionship until he was giving her the cold shoulder.

As the adventure continued, she and Jack got closer once again. Despite that fact, she still wasn't satisfied. He still had not forgiven her. He never uttered those three little words. 'I forgive you.' Elizabeth sighed and looked back at the footprints she had made. It didn't matter anymore. What had or hadn't been between Jack and Elizabeth was all but history now, just like the tide would take her footprints away as soon as it came in.

She found herself staring out at the sea again. Something caught her eye. In the distance was a small vessel of some kind. Not sure of the danger, Elizabeth backed into the trees. Suddenly, she felt dizzy again. She cursed herself for not eating in such a long time. It was the last thought she had before her world went black.

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Jack pulled out his telescope and aimed it at his destination. The island wasn't much. Not that it mattered. His life was the sea and anything absent of it made him wobbly legged and nervous. Much of his staggering strut was for show. Jack was not only a smooth talker but a quick thinker. Everything from the words he spoke to the way he held himself was a carefully executed plan. He made himself appear less steady on his feet while on land so to have the element of surprise if a battle was to ensue. But overall, Pirates just preferred the sea.

He scanned the beach, recognizing the little island to be one called Dugs island holding the town of Dugs. As he had told Gibbs, his first mate, a few days ago before the big battle between the Pearl and Dutchman, Pirates were a rather unimaginative bunch when it came to naming things. He was sure he could find her somewhere in Dugs town.

Just as he was about to snap shut the eyeglass, something caught his eye. He knew her even though he couldn't make out her face.

"Liz..." Jack whispered, a smile on his face. Satisfied, he snapped shut the instrument and headed for the shore. He glanced up at the shore and did a double take. He stood up a moment, puzzled. Hadn't he just seen Elizabeth standing there a moment ago?

**The chapters do get much longer and the faster people review, the faster I will update. Please let me know what you think because the reviews are what make this worthwhile. **


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3

Jack, worried out of his mind, swept up the chart piece and leapt from the little ship he had floated in to swim the rest of the way. When he reached the shore he saw one thing. Elizabeth. Elizabeth collapsed in the soft grass that skirted the beach. He moved over to her and immediately checked for breathing and a pulse. Feeling both, he allowed himself a sigh of relief. She would be ok. Not wanting to leave her side, he pulled out a flask of water, something he didn't drink much of. Rum was this Pirates main drink. Gently he poured some onto his finger and dabbed it onto her dry lips. She responded immediately by groaning and opening her eyes. Seeing who it was above her, she shot up into an upright position.

"Easy love. Don't want you passing out again." Jack placed a hand behind her back to steady her if she was to topple over backwards again.

Elizabeth choked out something between a laugh and a sob and threw her arms around the captain and her savior. Surprised, Jack took a moment to respond. He wanted more than anything to wrap his arms around the woman who now clung to him but resisted. Instead, he pushed her out to an arm's length and looked at her. "And how is Mrs. Turner doing?"

Elizabeth's gut clenched when she heard herself referred to as Mrs. Turner. More than usual, it seemed, when Jack called her that. The feeling was expressed as anger as she addressed the pirate before her. "I would have been fine without you. I just blacked out a moment from not eating in a few days and not having enough water to drink."

Jack handed her the flask of water as she spoke. She took it angrily. The act seemed to make Jack even smugger than before. He smiled, a smile that never really reached his dark brown, kohl lined eyes. "That's the thing about being marooned on islands Lizzie, the water is all around you yet there is not a drop to drink."

Now Elizabeth's face was hot with anger and denial. "I was not marooned here. Will left me here to guard the chest."

Jack seemed amused. "So what has happened to the independent Lizzie I have had the immense joy in getting to know, hmm?"

Elizabeth huffed as she stood up and tossed the half full flask at Jack's chest. She seemed a bit unsteady on her feet, the black coming in at the sides of her vision at first, but she willed it away.

Jack could tell he had hit a soft spot and so he pursued the matter, jumping to his feet and strolling along beside her as she stalked over to the chest."I know dear William would have loved to have you all to himself but he can't, what with all his Dutchman duties and all. So he confined you to this spit of land by yourself? It hardly seems fair."

Jack peered at her face as the angry Elizabeth came to a halt before the chest. Her voice surprised him a bit. It came out unsure and unsteady. "He loved me Jack. I can't ask for more than that. The least I can do is protect his heart." There was a brief moment of silence before she turned to face him. She seemed amused now. "So Captain Jack Sparrow, what brings you to my little island? And without the Pearl? Did we not say our goodbyes but a day ago?"

Jack squirmed uneasily under her gaze before speaking. She seemed to be the only person he had ever met that could make him feel so unsure of himself. His hand went to the chart rolled up in his sash and his mind instinctively started working. He knew that he couldn't tell her the truth, tell her that his compass led him strait to her, refusing to point anywhere else as long as she was absent from his ship. "This little island is not so uninhabited as you would think, Lizzie. There is a little town on the other side, Dugs town, that has sailors and ships. I need to restock."

A smile graced Elizabeth's face as she spoke. "You lost the Pearl again didn't you?" Jack sent her a mock smile in response. "That still didn't answer my question though. Why are you on this side of the island if this Dugs town is on the other?"

Jack, as much as he hated to admit it, loved to see her so cunning and deductive. Not much slipped past her. But he had yet to meet someone that he couldn't fool. As he opened his mouth to respond, a loud gunshot in the distance interrupted his thoughts. Instead, Jack grabbed Elizabeth by the arm and hauled her toward the forest.

"Where are we going Jack!" She snatched up the chest with her free hand as she was dragged forward.

"Dugs island is not the most friendly of islands one can find. I am surprised that the whelp picked such a place to stow his new bride in his absence."

Elizabeth pulled free of Jack's grip. "What do you mean. He put me here far from Port Royal so that nothing could happen to me!"

Jack rolled his eyes and reached for her hand. When she avoided his grasp he sighed. "The boy forgot to do his homework. Besides Tortuga, this is the only safe haven for Pirates. Dugs town is crawling with bad dealings and drunken Pirates."

"I have had plenty of experience with Pirates," Elizabeth practically growled as she shifted her weight.

Jack reached for her hand again and this time she wasn't fast enough to avoid his grasp. "Yes. Lizzie the fearsome Pirate lass. Love, you are by far one of the trickiest, most cunning she devils to ever sail on the Caribbean. But Dugs island is crawling with the scum Pirate of the seas." He looked over his shoulder at Elizabeth. He could tell she still wasn't convinced of the danger. "Dugs Island is full of only the nastiest male pirates to sail the seas. The type of pirates that kill women and children without a second thought." He paused and turned to face Elizabeth, dropping her hand and looking deep into her brown eyes. "They will rape or kill you if they find you."

This got a response from Elizabeth. She let out a small gasp. Her free hand reached down for her sword tied at her side. Her look of surprise was replaced by a look of determination. Jack couldn't help but smile at her. That was one of the reasons he found her so...

"I thank you for your warning me Captain Sparrow, but I am more than capable of protecting myself."

"All by yourself? Lizzie, you are fearsome but not against a group of bloodthirsty, lust filled men that have nothing at all to lose."

Elizabeth held Jack's eyes for a moment, considering what he had said. With a shrug, Elizabeth spoke."Well, I suppose I will need an escort out of here now won't I." Elizabeth braced herself for Jack's response. She didn't know how the captain would feel about having her on his ship. She didn't even know what her own husband would think about it.

Jack ran his eyes over her a moment before he met her gaze once again. This time his eyes were serious. Elizabeth knew what was coming. Not too long ago when she approached him, wanting to be on his ship to find Will, there had been no hesitation with Jack. But Elizabeth knew that things were different now. She had betrayed him and things had never been the same since.

"Now what kind of gentleman would I be to leave one lovely, if not murderous Mrs. Turner alone on an island filled with just as dangerous men." Jack's comment sounded light but his voice was serious and cold.

Elizabeth recoiled as if slapped. Although she had expected no less, she was not used to hearing the always teasing and full of jokes Jack make such a response in such a cold way. There was no humor in his statement.

Jack's heart twisted painfully in his chest when he saw Elizabeth's response to his... response. But he pushed the feeling away and made forward into the forest. The only reason he knew Elizabeth to be behind him was the rustling of the brush as she followed him. Despite his lack of trust when she was around, he cared for her safety and there was never a question in his mind that he would be the one to deliver her safely out of the cursed island. But he had decided that she would never know that, could never know that. As far as he was concerned, she was a married woman, bound by love to one Mr. William Turner, also known as the whelp. He would rather have all of his rum burned away than to prove Elizabeth right by being a "good man."

Then again, he supposed he had proven her right back when he had saved her husband's life.

Truth be told, Jack never wanted to have to step foot on the island again after his last visit and the type of scum that ran around the place. But that was all the more reason the get fair Elizabeth out of there.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks so much for the reviews. I love to hear from people. :)**

Ch 4

They reached Dugs town in the dead of the night, just as Jack had wanted to. The red bandana clad Pirate peeked over a bush to take in the sight before him.

Men were everywhere, even at the late hour that it was. Some were sprawled out in a drunken slumber that Jack knew all too well. Many were just stalking down the dirt streets, their shadows long and forbidding as they passed underneath the torchlight. But most were heard inside the nearby bar, yelling and fighting.

Elizabeth's head joined Jacks in the shadows behind the bush. She wasn't particularly impressed by the sight. "It just looks like a bunch of drunken men to me. Hardly a challenge." Jack sent her a look that told her otherwise.

"Now, I am going to lead the way into the bar. You, stay close to me. We go in, I bargain with the most drunk sea man we can find, we are in, we get out, done. Simple and quick. Just the way it should be. Savvy?" He glanced over at Elizabeth in the shadows as she nodded at him. He took in her simple lads clothing. Panic struck him.

When he had left her half a mile away from Dugs town to go in and get her clothes, an errand he didn't appreciate in the least, he had hoped to hide the fact that she was, indeed a woman. But to him, the loose fitting clothes he brought to her just made her look beautiful in a rugged, Pirate lass sort of way. He didn't voice this opinion and hoped that the other men wouldn't notice.

"We keep to the shadows," he added, not convinced that the other men would fall for his ruse. Elizabeth nodded to him, her face determined. Jack couldn't help but smile. She drove him wild when she looked like that.

Elizabeth's eyes came to meet his and she was surprised to see a smile there. It was a rare thing to see Jack truly smiling and it showing in his eyes. For some reason, one Elizabeth just couldn't figure out, a blush crept up her neck as he held her gaze. She wanted to both look away and sit there forever. If she had to tell the truth, she was not excited in the least for this little venture they were about to embark on. She could already smell the sweat and beer scent of the barbaric men in the bar. But as she looked into Jack's eyes, she realized, with terror that there was no one that she trusted more in a situation like this. She mentally scolded herself for it was the oldest rule; Never Trust a Pirate.

With great effort, Jack peeled his eyes away from Elizabeth's brown ones, not before he made a mental note of how her eyes danced in the torchlight. With a grunt, he stood, crashing out from behind the bush and into the dirt street, Elizabeth close behind. She kept a steady hand on her sword Jack noticed with approval. It wasn't long before a man, hunched in a corner alley, spotted them.

"Aye there pirate man. Ahoy! S'a nice night aint it!" The skinny man stepped out of the darkness with obvious difficulty do to his drunken state. Jack nodded to him but kept walking. The man didn't get the hint. "How 'bout you lad? S' a nice night aint it?" Elizabeth turned to the man and nodded. The drunk gave her a nearly toothless grin and started singing.

Elizabeth shook herself slightly. No matter how often she had encounters with men like that, she swore she would never get used to it. She still hated rum for the state it put people in but she had to admit, ever since her night with Jack on the island, tasting a little bit of rum here and there, dancing in the firelight with him as he drank himself silly in her company, rum seemed a little less evil than she was always taught it was.

'I still hate it' she thought to herself as they continued their way, growing ever closer to the bar. As carefree as Jack had been that night, as fun as he had been, she hated that most of his actions were against his will, blurred by the haze of a man in a drunken stupor. She had taken a certain amount of pleasure in the fact that he trusted her enough to allow himself to get that drunk while with her. She had never seen him so drunk before, nor had she ever since. It amazed her that, while he was rarely without his rum bottle, he was never taken off guard.

Jack approached the door of the bar and stepped in. The atmosphere was much like that of Tortuga only there was not a woman in sight and the men were drinking with another purpose; to drown out the world. These were desperate, despicable men. Jack couldn't help it as he cast another glance over his shoulder at Elizabeth. Her eyes took in the sight. If she was scared she didn't show it. Only he could tell her discomfort. He had learned that when she was nervous or scared, her eyes seemed larger than usual, quicker.

With a renewed reason to get out quick, he marched himself up to a man alone at a table. Elizabeth noticed that his swagger seemed a bit stronger. "Jack. Are you sure that he..." she whispered to him, worried about the man he was approaching.

Jack seemed not to hear her as he spoke to the man at the table. "What say you to a bargain?"

**The chapters get even longer and more exciting I promise. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Ch 5

"Ah. Could you by any chance be the infamous Jack Sparrow I have heard so much about? Have a seat my friend." Jack smiled and Elizabeth could tell it was forced. She took the time to get a closer look at the man as Jack engaged him in conversation. He seemed somewhat familiar. Just as a name was forming in Elizabeth's mind, the man glanced up at her. She quickly averted her eyes.

"Mmmm. Who have we here Sparrow?" Jack followed the man's gaze. "This is a lad I have taken a liking to. He will help crew my ship... that is, when I get it back. That is the matter I wanted to discuss with you Mikan." Elizabeth couldn't help but jump when she heard the name. Embarrassed, she glanced up to see if Mikan had noticed. She was happy to see all his attention on Jack.

Jack, however, saw the gesture from the corner of his eye and made note to ask Elizabeth about it later. Something about this man made her uncomfortable and he bet that there was some story behind it. "I find myself in need of a ship."

"And a crew I would imagine," Mikan responded, a smirk on his face.

Elizabeth began to tremble and found that she couldn't stop herself. Here he was, sitting not two feet away from her. The man who had hounded her, wanting her hand in marriage since the day she was of age. The man who had threatened her very life when she had refused his offer. She had forgotten all about Mikan back when she had been taken aboard the Black Pearl years ago, back when she first met Jack. Now the memories came flooding back. It made her dizzy. She pulled the rim of her hat down further over her eyes.

Jack laughed. "No. I have a crew. My first mate is waiting for me in Tortuga. All I need is a fast ship and I will be off. So, what says you to a drink?"

Mikan laughed at this. "No thank you. Sparrow, I will give you my ship under one condition."

"Name it." Jack lifted the cup of rum to his lips after offering the drink to Mikan one more time.

Mikan shook his head and leaned back in his chair. "I want you to be on the lookout for one Elizabeth Swann and tell me if you spot her."

Jack almost choked on his rum. Mikan was oblivious. He hid his expression behind his sleeve as he wiped his mouth off on it. "And what would one gentleman such as yourself want with such a governess?"

Mikan's eyes took on a look of lust, anger and greed that made Jack's blood boil. "I want her hand in marriage."

Jack couldn't help the drop of tone in his voice that Elizabeth knew to come out when he was angry. "Miss. Turner you mean?" Mikan looked surprised and increasingly agitated. Jack laughed bitterly. "Yes. She married the whelp. Do you know a man by the name of William Turner?"

"The blacksmith? Ha!" Mikan laughed loudly. "I hardly believe she would marry such a man."

Elizabeth was upset over this comment and took a step closer to Mikan. Jack caught her eye and sent her a warning glance. She stopped reluctantly.

"She always had a heart for adventure and Will was always so... boring." Elizabeth almost laughed out loud at this. She had to admit, he wasn't a man for adventure. She sure seemed to have made him one in the past years. That thought made her sad. He didn't share her passion for adventure and the sea. Yet, he had become the captain of the Flying Dutchman.

Elizabeth's emotions took a sharp turn as another thought came into her head. He did it for his father and his father alone. That was not what made her upset. She valued family more than ever after the loss of her own father. The fact was, he had been so obsessed with his mission that he had betrayed her and Jack, the whole crew. In her mind, there was no excuse for that type of behavior. He just never seemed to think things out. Even the island where he left her alone. Full of dangerous men. Good one Will, she thought to herself.

Suddenly, being here alone with Jack didn't seem so bad. When she thought about it, did it ever feel anything but amazingly exhilarating? That thought scared her so she returned her attention to the conversation between Jack and Mikan.

Jack lifted his glass to Mikan. "That he doesn't. The fact is, boy, the whelp is a married man."

Mikan leaned across the table to Jack. "Do you think that will stop me?" Jack didn't like the dangerous gleam he saw in the man's blue eyes. There was a challenge in his own dark brown ones.

"It wouldn't stop me."

Elizabeth's face flushed at Jack's bold comment. She was ashamed that she felt a rush of pleasure. Without warning the kiss the two of them shared flashed through her mind. Her heart tightened at the thought of it. It must be the guilt, she told herself. But for some reason, it felt different. She liked the feeling. She tried to bring the same feelings when she thought of the kisses she and Will shared. She found that she couldn't. Mikan's laugh pulled her out of her thoughts.

"I like you Jack."

"Who doesn't?" Jack asked, one of his gold teeth glinting in one of his cocky smirks. Elizabeth found that that smirk drove her wild. It made her want to jump right into his arms and...

She looked away from him. She had to get out of here. The atmosphere... it must be something in the air, she told herself. For goodness sake, I am a married woman! she scolded herself.

"Do we have an accord?" Jack held his hand out to Mikan. Mikan looked at it for a moment. "Will you tell me if you see Elizabeth?"

"Mate, what makes you think she would come to me?"

"I heard all about your adventures with her. News got to Port Royal fast. Everyone thought her to be dead. I don't believe it. I did hear that her father is dead. The old fool had it coming."

Jack's gaze flew to where Elizabeth stood behind Mikan. Her eyes were furious. He knew she wasn't going to take that kind of talk about her father. He hoped she would let the danger of the situation override her want to kill the man. He wasn't feeling too peachy himself at the moment. The only thing he could think about was how heartbroken Elizabeth had been when she had found out that her father was dead. To hear this man talk so bad about her father...

Jack found his hand reaching for his pistol but he stopped himself. He was here for business. Get in, get out.

"So I know she will come find you at some time or another." Mikan turned to look at Elizabeth. She backed up a step. "Won't she lad?"

Elizabeth got a horrible feeling that he knew it was her. She wanted nothing more than to run but she stood her ground, holding his gaze. "You look awfully familiar boy." He smiled a horrible smile at her and she was sure that he knew. Just when she was sure he could smell her fear, Jack was at her side.

"Easy. Your scaring the lad. So, do we have an accord?" He held his hand out to Mikan again. This time, the man took it.

"Agreed."

Jack shook his hand fast and took Elizabeth by the arm. "Well, were off then. Much obliged. Many thanks and all that."

Mikan watched the two walk out the door. A man joined him, stepping out of the shadows. "That is her for sure. Ready the Sea Lass."

"Did you not give the two your ship?" the skinny man asked.

"I gave them one of my ships. I told you she was here and in knowing so, I planned accordingly."

The skinny man smiled. "Right away sir. After all..." he gave a toothless grin. "it is a nice night."


	6. Chapter 6

Ch 6

Jack smiled as the salty sea air hit him. There was no feeling in the world like it. The gentle rock of the ship under his feet, the sails whipping in the breeze, the water slapping the sides of the ship. He glanced over at Elizabeth. She stood on the rigging of the ship they rode on, the Song. Her face was concentrated as she pulled tight one of the ropes to set the sail. Jack tied the rope in his own hand off and strolled over to her.

By the time he reached her, she was on deck, her back to him. The chest lay at her feet. "Well, Lizzie, you're a regular pirate." Elizabeth whirled to face him. She looked upset. "Really, love. The way you handled the sails was a thing of beauty." He walked away, headed for the wheel. Elizabeth stomped after him.

"So we have a ship. Now what is to become of me!? I was to wait for Will on that... Dugs? island. And here I am sailing off into the night with Captain Jack Sparrow!"

Jack could tell her face was red with frustration, although the dark of the night did well to hide it. "Relax. We will be at Tortuga by midday tomorrow. I can leave you there if you like. I will have plenty of crew to chase Barbossa down." He was glaring at her. His voice was cold. Elizabeth hated that look. He was still sore about her betrayal of him. She couldn't really blame him. But at the moment, she didn't care.

"Captain Jack Sparrow, you are the most arrogant, self assured, deceiving pirate, or man, it has ever been my displeasure to..."

"Ease off love. Why don't you just..." Jack started.

"And that's another thing! Don't call me love!!!!" She interrupted. To her surprise, Jack looked hurt.

When he spoke this time, his voice sounded tired. "Why don't you just go to sleep. The captains quarters are right down those steps." He still wore the look of pain but his eyes were gentle as well. Gentle and hurt.

Elizabeth, not allowing herself to give over to the want to apologize, turned on her heel and quickly stormed away. Jack stared at her retreating back.

Elizabeth slammed the door to the captain's cabin shut and tossed the chest onto a table near the bed. With a heavy sigh she crawled into bed, placing the hat that Jack had bought her to hide her identity onto the table with the chest. For a long while, she just peered up at the wood paneling above her head. There were beautiful designs carved into the border of the room, carved shapes of ships on the water, women, shores and trees. She found that she could stare at them for hours and never be able to fully appreciate the work it took to create such a piece of art on the walls.

Jack popped into her head without warning. At first, she was angry, flopping over onto her side and closing her eyes tight. That only made things worse. She recalled how she had woken up after passing out to see his him looking at her with concern. The water from his hair had dripped all over her face as he leaned over her. She couldn't help the smile that started to creep onto her face. She didn't try and stop it. That was so much how she had first met him, back when she had been pulled out of the water. He had saved her life.

The more she pondered the matter, the more she found that had done that quite often. The time they met he pulled her from the water and cut off her corset, allowing air into her lungs. When she and the crew were attacked by the Kraken, she had lost her gun and couldn't get a shot at the barrels of gun powder. When she fell to the ground, the first thing she saw when she looked up was Jack, looking every bit the pirate and hero he was. He protected her then. And how had she repaid him? She shuddered at the thought.

As the Flying Dutchman went down in the maelstrom, he had pulled her to safety just in time. And when she had passed out on the island, who was the one to restore her? Every time she needed help, he seemed to be there. What Elizabeth wondered was, where was Will all those times?

She let her mind wander; filled with happy thoughts of the times she and Jack had shared as well as the hurt. Suddenly, she felt terrible. The conversation the two had engaged in up on deck had left Jack hurt. Once again, he had been there to help her, to protect her. And how had she repaid him? About as well as she ever had.

Elizabeth stood up and headed to the door. She peeked out reluctantly. Although she wanted to apologize, she was sure she was in for a hard time. Jack never did things the easy way. He had been hurt and she was sure he would let her know of his displeasure. She spotted him at the mast. He looked far away, his eyes distant. His hands gripped the wheel with ease. His hair whipped gently in the breeze. With a deep breath, she made for him.

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Jack had spotted Elizabeth coming out of the cabin but chose to ignore her. He was, indeed hurt over her last outburst but he knew exactly why she acted out like she did. Deep down, she was afraid. Though her outbursts could be frustrating, he found that they made him want to lavish her, to make her happy and put that beautiful smile back on her face. That want to make her happy and please her scared him.

So when she had stormed away, he had let her. He was a pirate. Many times had he pondered his feeling for Elizabeth. She was beautiful to be sure, but being a pirate and a captain no less, he had many obligations. His first and only love was the sea. It had to be... didn't it?

And so, every day since the day fate intervened and brought them together, he had asked himself that question and told himself the answer he was sure to be right. The sea could be his only love. He could only have eyes for the sea.

Jack had decided that he would not let himself feel whatever it was he was feeling when he was around Elizabeth. The one time he had opened his heart, changed his ways and risked his life for someone, for her, for Elizabeth, it had ended badly. Very badly.

Besides, she is married Mrs. Whelp now. And what bad taste she has, Jack thought to himself as he continued to watch Elizabeth out of the corner of his eye. She stood there in the doorway of the cabin for a while as Jack was lost in thought. Well, her taste is not all that bad. After all, she did get a taste of ol' Jack. Best decision she ever made. Too bad it was all a lie. He cocked his head to the right slightly at the thought.

Finally, he noticed, Elizabeth started coming towards him. He prepared to put up that barrier around his heart. As she came closer and he looked at her head on, he noticed that she was looking very sad and distressed. Immediately, those barriers came down.

"Oh bugger..." Jack muttered under his breath. How it was that she was always able to do that to him he would never know.

"Jack..." The slight tremble in Elizabeth's voice demolished the rest of his barrier. He looked at her. "I wanted to..." She seemed to change her mind about something. "...to see if you were going to be out here all by yourself all night."

Jack smiled at her and returned his attention out to the sea. "A Captain always remains at the helm. Besides," he looked around and gestured with his hands. "Do you see any other crew? As long as your here Lizzie, I have a question for you."

Elizabeth smiled weakly at him. This wasn't the way she thought her apology would go. But she would take it. "Shoot. It is the least I can do for a man who risked his well being to rescue me from that island and the endless boredom that was sure to ensue."

Jack smiled at her. "Lizzie, I think you have some Jack in you."

She laughed. He found he was beginning to be addicted to that part of her as well.

"How do you mean?" she asked, a smile still on her face.

"Well," He moved away from the mast now and lifted himself up onto the rail. The salty water misted him across his back through his shirt. "You have taken an understanding as to why islands are such terrible places."

Elizabeth lifted herself up beside him. She was happy that the night was slowly becoming more comfortable and far less hostile. "You know Jack, they aren't all that terrible. I mean, there is the soft sand, the green trees..."

Jack gazed at Elizabeth beside him. He wondered if she knew what she was doing to him, sitting so close. To hear her talk about the land like she did made him want to be there and memories of their island time together way back when made him want that time back all the more. That night, he had opened up to her more than he ever had to anyone else.

Elizabeth looked up into his eyes. "You seemed to enjoy yourself despite the circumstance before."

Jack smiled at her. "More pleasurable company than any other time I remember telling you."

Jack took immense pleasure from the blush he watched creep up her neck and into her face. She looked away from him. "Back to the matter at hand Captain Swann." She glanced back at him. "How do you know Mikan? And why is the lad so infatuated in finding you."

Elizabeth sighed and looked away again, her eyes drifting lazily over the billowing sails. "I knew him once. He was but a boy I knew from Port Royal."

Jack didn't buy it. He smiled his pirate smirk at her even though she was trying desperately not to meet his eye. "There is more to it than that Elizabeth."

"Jack..." Elizabeth started to lie but stopped herself. She felt he deserved to know the truth and, oddly enough, the pirate before her was someone she trusted above, well, anyone. Besides Will, she told herself.

"Let's have it." He waited for her to continue, the smile gone from his face and his eyes full of seriousness.

"Well, the man wants to marry me."

Jack rolled his eyes at her. "I know that Lizzie. Give this Captain some credit. I was not so drunk through Mikan and me self's conversation to miss that much." He leaned in closer to her. "Tell me something I don't already know. Although..." As quickly as the rouge pirate had leaned forward and he was leaning away from her. "I don't know if I should trust you either way."

Elizabeth took on a look of shock and hurt. Jack almost wished he hadn't said a word but the fact of the matter was she had killed him once. She had betrayed him in a way he could never forget. The look brought on some satisfaction as well and he wondered if the feeling came because it was payback for her betrayal or payback for the fact that she constantly haunted his mind and dreams.

The look on Elizabeth's face slowly faded away into a look of sincere regret and frustration. "Jack... will you never forgive me?"

Jack shrugged. "When one is killed it is hard for said person to just forgive and trust again. Especially hard to trust the words... or actions, of the betrayer. So perhaps this whole conversation is for nothing."

There was a long silence that followed. The only sound was the gentle creaking of the ship and the quiet snap of the sails as they caught the breeze. Finally, Elizabeth spoke. Her voice was quiet. "I felt nothing but guilt..."

"Ah HA!" Jack interrupted, pointing an accusatory ring clad finger in her face.

"Jack." Elizabeth warned before continuing. "But I also felt... sadness." She laughed bitterly. "The world just wasn't the same without the great Jack, a Pirate legend and a good man." She gave him a hard, searching look. Jack flinched slightly. "Nothing has hurt more than the loss of what we had. I know you wanted to have it be a parting of friends that day after the battle with the East India trading company and Davey Jones, but I know that it wasn't true. So now I am here to tell you... I am sorry Jack. More sorry than you will ever know."

Jack was stunned by her sincerity. His heart tightened painfully in his chest. Finally, she had apologized. He knew a pirate was never to trust anyone but himself but what was a few broken rules to the legendary Jack Sparrow?

Still, he hid his acceptance of her apology. After all, actions spoke louder than words.

"The great Jack must feel something besides bitterness for the Pirate King Lizzie mustn't he? After all, he braved much to save this distressing damsel many times and today was no exception." She jumped from the rail and headed toward the front of the ship. Suddenly she paused and turned to him. "You know, for a man who denies having a good heart, you prove me wrong over and over."

Jack just sat there, watching her retreat. She never ceased to amaze him as he found himself stunned by her one more time. He hatred it but he found he could not deny her words. "Bloody Lizzie..." he muttered, walking back up to the wheel. All night she stayed with him, keeping watch. He knew she had stealthily avoided the question he had posed to her but decided it could wait a bit more.


	7. Chapter 7

Ch 7

Elizabeth woke up and panicked. Her eyes flew open and she sat up with a start. Then, after a moment of taking in her surroundings, she laughed and flopped back. The cabin of the ship. She was safe with Jack aboard Mikan's ship. Puzzled further, she stood and donned her hat. How and when she got to the cabin eluded her. She picked her brain for answers.

Last she could recall she was on deck with Jack, standing on the front of the ship and watching the white caps of the waves lap against the ship, feeling the spray of the sea. Had she fallen asleep? She knew she was tired. But that didn't explain...

She froze at the door. Jack. Her heart constricted at the thought that came to her mind. Jack must have put her in the cabin after she fell asleep. That was the only thing that could have happened and the realization made her blush and giddy at the same time. The image of Jack, gently carrying her into the cabin as she slept so she could be comfortable...

She felt an overwhelming need to be with Jack, to somehow tell him how she felt. That is, if she could put a name to it. The fact that he would show such uncharacteristic gentleness to her made her feel wanted. And that was a huge weight lifted off her shoulders, a weight that had been there since she betrayed him so long ago. She smiled to herself as she opened the door and was hit with the early morning rays of sunlight. He had forgiven her. In his own special way, Jack had taken her awkward apology last night and forgiven her in a way all his own.

Elizabeth felt better than she had since she had left to save Jack from the locker. There was an extra spring to her step and lightness in her heart. "Lord save me I feel like kissing someone" Elizabeth whispered with a smile.

"I would be highly inclined and honored to have that pleasure." Jack's voice startled Elizabeth and she spun around. She was met with his tanned face and kohl lined eyes. She smiled at him and found it was the only thing she could do. She didn't trust herself to do anything else.

Jack turned from her and hollered overboard. "Hoist up the next crate Mr. Gibbs!!!"

Elizabeth gave Jack a mock scowl. "Now Captain Sparrow, you know well that I am a married woman and cannot partake in such guilty pleasures."

There is that smirk again, Elizabeth thought. Jack stalked up to her. The look in his eyes made her both want to shy away and run into his arms. His brown eyes were dark with a hunger."Ah. But is the woman before me not the Pirate King herself and able to do whatever she deems necessary?" Jack paused a short distance from her face and as hard as he tried, he couldn't stop his eyes from glancing down at her lips. As fast as they had taken in her inviting lips, he snapped his eyes back up to hers.

Elizabeth cursed herself for the want to tell him to come back as she watched him saunter away. "Well, obviously your last words to me before I walked off the Black Pearl weren't true Sparrow." She worked hard to get the deepness in her voice that Jack had as she spoke her next words, quoting him from some days before when they had parted."'Once was enough.'" She could hardly contain the giggles as he froze mid step, pivoted on his heel to face her and opened his mouth for a comeback. He was interrupted by Gibbs.

Elizabeth didn't want to hear his excuses. The fact that he had shown some interest in kissing her was yet another indication that he had forgiven and was possibly on his was to forgetting her betrayal.

"This is the last crate Captain. We will be ready to sail... oh. Miss. Turner! You are awake!" Elizabeth couldn't help the cringe she felt that came with the title Gibbs gave her. Jack was looking her over curiously. With dread she realized he must have caught her shudder if the knowing smirk that was slowly creeping onto his face was any indication.

Elizabeth pulled herself up tall and nodded to Gibbs. "Hello Mr. Gibbs. It is nice to see you again."

"Will you be sailing with us Miss. Turner?"

"Yes." Elizabeth answered. As soon as she said the words, her heart felt even lighter, something she didn't think possible. She was on the sea again. "And while I am aboard the ship, please call me Elizabeth, Mr. Gibbs."

Gibbs looked at her curiously but shook his head. Elizabeth decided to make herself useful so she wandered over to help hoist the last crate. Over the edge she saw Cotton and his parrot as well as some of the other, more faithful crew from before helping out as well as some new faces. Elizabeth assumed that Gibbs had found some people to help out in Jack's absence.

Elizabeth's muscles protested at first, already turning soft. It seemed that Will never let her help much on the Empress when they were looking for Jack. The more she thought about it the more that seemed to happen. Will always seemed to shelter her, confine her to his sight or to his side. Back in the day she thought that to be a sweet gesture. Now, as she became more and more independent, the act seemed, well, annoying. Bloody annoying. She credited the free feelings she was experiencing now to that old lifestyle. It reminded her a lot of the corset she wore the day she met Jack.

Yes, she thought with a smile. My old life in Port Royal was very much like that horrid corset. And Jack freed me from its confinement. For that, she was eternally grateful to him.

After about an hour worth of hoisting up crates and supplies, the ship was out onto the open sea once again. 'No time for fun in Tortuga' Jack had said. Elizabeth knew that as long as Jack didn't have his ship, there would be no rest for the Captain.

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Jack strutted his way up the deck, checking every knot and fingering every rope to check its taughtness. He rarely had to speak to his crew or give orders. They always seemed to do things well the first time. He figured he had his first mate Gibbs to thank for that. The man seemed to know him so well. Perhaps that was why Gibbs comments just spoken were so very unsettling to Jack.

"Mr. Gibbs. Did I ask you to comment on such business that is really none of your own?"

"Well, Captain, it seemed a bit contradictory that you leave Tortuga so soon with naught but a compass and a flask of Rum when it would no doubt take more than a few men to crew the Pearl." Gibbs paused as he scratched his beard and cast a wary eye at Jack. When the Captain didn't slug him, he continued. "And when you gave me the two wenches before you left, one would know something was a brewi'n."

Jack cast Gibbs a sly look. "It is quite a day when dear Jack is not seen with a woman under each arm. But what is to say that a man, nay, a Captain, cannot give his first mate, and friend, such a gift?"

Gibbs tried to hide his smile. "Well, you haven't quite been yourself since the day you met fair Elizabeth."

Jack's eyes immediately went to where she sat. The wind tousled her hair and she was laughing over the antics of the crew. Cottons parrot was calling out insults to a furious new crew mate, named Kole, from up in the crow's nest.

Elizabeth was without a doubt the most beautiful thing he laid eyes on, especially in that moment as she laughed. And so he cursed himself as he found he so often did over her. Cursed himself for knowing exactly where she was and for feeling the way he did when he looked at her.

Gibbs voice snapped him back to reality. "But the most obvious reason of all Jack, is the look in your eyes when you set them on her."

Jack brought his attention back to Gibbs, a guilty look on his face. He shrugged but found that for once, Captain Jack Sparrow, king of deceitful tongue and cunning speech, was speechless. Gibbs punched him lightly on the shoulder. "I be your first mate Jack. I sail where the wind takes you and stay by your side. I sometimes know you better than you know yourself. Trust your first mate when he tells you that... you're in love."

Jack scrunched up his nose at Gibbs in a way that could have been considered quite comical if it hadn't been for the subject. He growled deep in his chest. When he spoke, his voice was tired and soft. "My fist and only love is the sea Gibbs. You know that better than anyone."

What Gibbs knew better than to do was to pursue the matter. But he also was smart enough to know he had hit the mark. His Captain was helplessly in love with a married woman, a woman he could never have, a complicated and independent woman. The hardest woman he could have ever chosen to love. The conquest of his heart was near impossible.

Gibbs smiled. Did Jack ever do anything any other way?

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Elizabeth took in a deep breath of fresh sea breeze, dedicating the scent and taste to memory. She knew that she had to get back to land sometime. Will had wished it of her. And God help her she still loved the man. But it was not a life she was excited to have to live, cooped up on an island. Her heart would always lie on the sea. She had wanted a life like it ever since she was a little girl. Now that she had a taste of it, it was near impossible to go back.

But she treasured Will's wish and so return to land she would, as much as it pained her.

With a heavy sigh, something she found she did a lot lately, she turned her face back to the ship deck. Without realizing it, she started searching the ship for Jack. She hadn't heard from him since he had a chat with Gibbs a while ago and she wondered if he had been upset somehow.

Her mind was distracted from the thought when Dirk, the man in the crow's nest, hollered that there was a ship on the horizon. Elizabeth ran to Jack's side as the Captain pulled out his spyglass. "Who is it? A pirate ship?" Jack was mute for a moment, all attention focused on the ship pursuing them. He started mumbling to himself.

Finally he pulled the eyeglass from his eye and spoke to the crew. "Make ready the cannons and guns. All hands! Run out the sails. We need more speed!"

"Jack!" Elizabeth was up in his face now, worried for why he would ignore her question. "Who is it?"

Jack turned to Elizabeth. "It's a ship I don't recognize. She isn't a pirate ship."

Elizabeth noted the way Jack's eyes didn't quite meet hers and the way he shifted his weight slightly from foot to foot. She knew he was hiding something from her. "You're lying."

Jack glanced at her, his eyes meeting hers this time. They were dark and serious. "Elizabeth, I need you to go into me captain's cabin and hide out."

"No." Elizabeth stepped away from him. "I want to fight. Jack, you know I can. What is the name of the pursuing ship?" She watched Jack's face for a hint of lying. There was none as he answered.

"I don't know but she is a ship of the East India Trading Company. That means danger for all of us, especially you if you're beloved Mikan is on board." Elizabeth's eyes widened in surprise. "Now do you see Lizzie? It is not safe for you to be out on me deck." He was leading her away from the rail as he spoke. "Besides, I can't be seen as a dishonest man should Mikan be on that ship."

Elizabeth jerked her arm from his grasp. "What do you pirates give about honesty?" Jack recoiled as if slapped. Elizabeth immediately realized her mistake. "I am sorry Jack. I know you to be a good, honest man. I just..."

"Captain!! The ship is flying colors and is..."

"Part of the British fleet." Jack finished, cutting off Gibbs as he spoke. Jack never took his eyes off of Elizabeth. "We are naught but an hour away from a port, a pirate friendly one at that. We can anchor there and wait for our friendly guests to pass on by. But for now, don't follow your husband's ways and do anything stupid. Just stay out of sight."

Elizabeth fixed Jack with a cold, hard look before she turned away, mumbling. "I don't like to walk away from a fight."

"I know you don't love." Jack muttered back before he turned for an update from Gibbs. He didn't even have to ask to require the information from his first mate.

"The Captain of the ship is no one we know. I think we can outrun her to Whitecap Bay. She looks to be of no danger to us now but just to be safe..."

Jack nodded to him and went up to the wheel. It would be close but they should drop anchor before there was any chance to find out the ships intentions.

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Elizabeth sat before a friendly fire .The stars up above her head twinkled and winked in her direction. Despite their cheerful appearance and the warmth the fire, Elizabeth could not stop the shaking in her hands. The fact that they almost had a run in with Mikan, the very thought that it was one of the ships from his fleet, scared her to death. They had watched from the safety of the bar on Whitecap Bay as the ship from Port Royal passed harmlessly by. That still did nothing to convince her that she was safe. She felt like Mikan was everywhere. She knew with his rise in power after the death of Beckett that he very well could be.

Elizabeth pulled her knees up to her chest to comfort herself and watched as the rest of the crew as they danced about the fire, a bottle of rum in one hand and a smile on their faces. They had reason to celebrate. The terror of the seas was gone, Davey Jones, as well as the man in charge of so many of the Pirate deaths, Beckett. While Elizabeth knew Mikan to be a pig of a man, she knew him to not be evil. He would never pursue such a path as Beckett had now that he was in power.

A shadow loomed over Elizabeth for a moment but she didn't bother looking up. She could tell it was Jack from the smell of rum and wood. He grunted as he sat down beside her. "Why not join in the festivities Lizzie?"

She didn't face him. "I am not much in the mood now."

Jack sat beside her in silence. "Got a lot on your mind I imagine. Probably thoughts of your fate and Mikan running all amuck in your pretty little head."

Elizabeth peered up at him, wondering if he was a mind reader. She was convinced he was when he spoke again."The evidence is all over your face dearie." He offered her his bottle of rum. Elizabeth shook her head weakly and returned her gaze to the fire.

There was another long silence before he stood up. Elizabeth almost spoke up to tell him to stay with her, but said nothing. Instead, Jack seemed to know just what she wanted. "Come with me. Let's take a little stroll."

Elizabeth fixed him with a curious and doubting look. He ignored it and offered her his hand. Oh, how she wanted to take his hand, to spend some time with someone and tell them her fears. It had been too long and she needed someone to confide in. But Jack?

Regardless of the thoughts whirling around in her head, she found her hand in his and found herself hoisted up next to him. Before she knew it, she was running down the beach and laughing, trying to keep up with Jack's funny wobbly legged run she knew was half for show. Most of what Jack did was a ruse to keep the enemy unawares. She has seen him fight on land and he was a master swordsman despite the lack of steadiness he tried to show.

A while down the beach and Jack stopped, pulling Elizabeth down beside him. The two lay there, the water almost lapping up over their feet they were so close to the water's edge, faces turned up to the stars. For a good time there was nothing but the sound of their heavy breathing, the waves and the distant laughter of the crew.

Elizabeth was a bit startled to hear Jack's voice as he broke the silence. It seemed loud, deep and almost unfamiliar as it cut into the night. "So, let's have it."

She turned to him and giggled a bit. "Let's have what?"

"The story." Silence followed and Jack kept his eyes trained up at the sky. "The story about Mikan. You must have feelings about him."

Elizabeth turned her face away and looked back up at the sky. The moon was just a crescent but it showered the whole beach with a beautiful light. She found she liked the way it lit up Jack's face very much. He seemed even wilder than he was. So she tried very hard to ignore him and keep her eyes on the sky instead as she spoke."Mikan is just what he told you, a man who wants my hand in marriage. I have no feelings for him. He is just a pig of a man."

Now Jack faced her, shifting his whole body to face her. Elizabeth couldn't help but turn her face to meet his eyes. She also noticed the way his long, muscular body lay in the sand. He looked so relaxed. For a man that didn't like the land or sandy beaches, he sure seemed at home and comfortable now. Then again, he always seemed comfortable to her.

Jack spoke. "There is more there than that Lizzie. Your still bloody shaking from our almost encounter today."

The observation made part of Elizabeth melt, though she had no clue why. Even as he spoke, her hands were trembling on the sand at her side. She didn't want to bring this topic up. She had never really even talked to Will about Mikan. But for some reason, she couldn't stop the words."Mikan is horrible. He is a coward and a sniveling fool. He has asked for my hand in marriage. He has always wanted my fortune, though now I have nothing so I see not why he chases me so."

She found that tears started coming down her face. Ashamed, she turned from Jack as she continued. "He looks at me in a way... in a way that scares me. And he has no honor. He had once snuck into my father's home in the dead of the night to take me away. I woke as he approached me and was able to fight my way out of his arms as he tried to bind me. As he left for the window, he whispered 'you have sealed your fate.' I was terrified."

Elizabeth cursed as she found that her tears wouldn't stop and the shaking had grown worse. She dared a look at Jack as she spoke again. "Jack, he had a knife. He is a man with no heart and will do anything to get what he wants."

The look she was met with on Jack's face was one she had never seen before. There was anger that darkened his eyes and compassion. His lips were set in a grim line and she sensed that he hadn't taken his eyes off her through her entire speech. He spoke softly to her as she sniffled in the darkness.

"Elizabeth..." He shifted a bit and started to raise his arm to her. Suddenly, there was movement behind him. She was about to warn him when she saw his own eyes go wide in warning. Then, her world went black.


	8. Chapter 8

Ch 8

Jack leapt up as Elizabeth fell, every muscle in his lean body poised for a fight. Rage and purpose filled his whole being in a way that was so unlike the Jack Sparrow the world knew. The world saw him as a coward who would run from any fight. But the woman who knew the truth, knew of his good and brave heart now lay at the feet of a dangerous person, out cold. And that fact made him more ready to fight than he had ever been.

His hands flew to the sword at his hip, grasping the hilt with an iron clasp. He shifted his weight, ready to face Elizabeth's assailant, sword in hand. "You made a big mistake… savvy?"

He prepared to attack the man before him, cloaked in black, until he noticed something in the man's eyes that struck as familiar. Jack couldn't quite place it. Something in the man seemed too familiar. Jack cocked his head to the side in puzzlement.

Suddenly, the man looked behind Jack, a slight movement of the eyes. Jack caught it, much too late he decided, as blinding white lights invaded his vision and the back of his head exploded in pain. Blackness pulled him the rest of the way under.

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Jack moaned softly as he came to. He blinked a few times to get the colors the throbbing in his head was causing to go away. The dimness of wherever he had been thrown was welcomed as light would have greatly increased the pain behind his eyes.

After a moment or two of mental preparation, Jack sat up. The process was slow and decidedly painful, each movement sending more pain. Once he was in an upright position, he took in his surroundings.

He found himself on a ship. That much he had guessed before sitting up from the gentle rock back and forth of the wood beneath him. He could hear the footsteps of people above him and the faint call of orders. The air was heavy with the unmistakable sent of salty sea mist.

He winced as he turned his head to look around. It seemed he was in a cell, cold and damp and not unlike the one on his own ship. Really the only difference was that these brigs actually had people in them. Jack rarely held people in the brig. The one person he saw in the cell across from him stopped all other thoughts cold.

Elizabeth lay in the cell across from him. Her hair was free from the cap she had worn to hide her as a lad and lay spread across the floor.

Jack crawled over to his own bars, ignoring the pounding protest of his head. Fear twisted painfully at his heart. He clutched the bars to his cell, cursing the inability to reach her.

"Elizabeth. Lizzie. Love, are you alright?" He muttered a few more curses when she didn't respond before continuing to call out to her.

After what seemed like forever, Elizabeth stirred. Jack watched as she sat up slowly, her eyes wide with fear and confusion. Jack attempted to calm her from his cell.

"S'alright Lizzie. Easy. You took a bloody whack to the head. "

Elizabeth's face jerked up to look at Jack and a spark of joy lit up behind her eyes, dimmed slightly by pain. She went to move forward, toward her own bars and closer to Jack.

"Jack. Thank God you're alright! I saw a man coming for you…"

Before she could finish her sentence, a shadow filled the steps down into the dark brig. Elizabeth gasped as the man stepped into a small sliver of light. Jack stood when he, too, saw the man's face.

"Well, Jack. It seemed that you had some precious cargo aboard with you after all."

The sound of Mikan's voice set Jack's blood to boil. The man stood cocky and confident. He just stared at Jack for a time, hatred in his eyes mixed with a victorious sneer.

"Oh, you mean Elizabeth? Last time I checked, people weren't cargo mate." Jack shot back. His eyes took on a dangerous gleam as he spoke. "Especially not the woman who you have caged up."

Mikan chuckled. Seeming to have just remembered Elizabeth was there, he turned to face her. Elizabeth cowered back a bit in her cell.

"Elizabeth my dear. You are my beautiful caged bird, my beautiful Swann. I warned you that I would have you… no matter what." As he spoke, he walked closer to her, seeming amused by her fear.

"A Swann is not a bird to be caged," Here she looked at Jack. "nor is a Sparrow. Both are birds of the wild, untamable." She returned her gaze to Mikan and it was full of frigid hate. She stood to face him as she continued to speak. "You must realize that there is no taming such creatures as wild birds."

Jack admired how she spoke, with such a strong voice. He could tell she was very afraid, despite her attempts not to seem so, by the slight tremble of her hands as she went to cross them over her chest.

To his disgust he noticed Mikan's eyes travel to Elizabeth's chest. Jack knew it wasn't to examine the trim of her sleeves that were crossed beneath her chest, rather her cleavage. He couldn't help the low animal growl that rumbled in his chest.

Mikan reached his hand in at Elizabeth quickly, catching her wrist and holding her fast as he spoke. "Ah, but you must not know that there is but a simple way to keep a bird. All one has to do is clip its beautiful wings."

Elizabeth tried to hide a wince as Mikan squeezed her wrist, emphasizing his point. Jack seethed with anger at Mikan and at himself for his helplessness. So he used one of his best weapons, his quick thinking and cunning words.

"Pardon the intrusion." Mikan turned his face slightly to Jack, never releasing Elizabeth's wrist. "As lovely as all this is, what with the metaphors, I am in dire need of a drink. Does a lowlife, landlubber, bilge rat like you happen to have a decent swig of rum around on this tugboat of yours?"

Jack's comment had the desired effect. Mikan's face reddened considerably. He released Elizabeth and made for Jack, fury in his every step.

He reached Jack's cell and opened his mouth as if to speak, then abruptly shut it again. He paused, thinking something over. He opened his mouth to speak again, only to shut it… again.

Jack couldn't resist. "Well, could you say what you need to say boy because all this gaping and staring is reminding me of a fish… and that reminds me of Davey Jones." He shivered. "Ugh. Now that was one ugly fish but I have to say that you are giving him a run for his money with that gape on your own face…"

Jack was cut off as Mikan pulled out his keys and yanked open the door. "You are insolent pirate filth that will learn his place and that place is with his neck beneath the coarse rope of the noose!"

He brought forth shackles and put them on Jack's wrists. Jack still found a way to gesture around the cell.

"Actually, I don't see a noose. All I see is a bunch of your sweaty overworked men trotting down here to please their master."

Mikan yanked Jack hard out of the cell and tossed him to one of the biggest men on his crew who had come down to see what the yelling was about. Jack smiled up at him, even as the huge man clamped a hand around his throat.

Mikan stalked up to Elizabeth's cell as he spoke, pulling out his keys. "These men may not be the pirate scum you are used to prancing around with but they are very fierce as you will come to see during your stay."

Jack cursed as he was turned toward the steps and away from Elizabeth. He found the bright light of morning almost too much to bear as it brought forth a new wave of pain and throbbing. The man leading Jack didn't seem to care as he proceeded in walking Jack to the rail on deck and pinning him down to his knees.

Elizabeth came up soon after, Mikan's hand firmly on the back of her neck, his other hand wound in her hair. She was led up to Jack and pushed down to her knees.

"Look while you can my wife because the next time you see your dear Captain, he will be hanging, lifeless, from the noose."

Elizabeth turned her face to glare at Mikan. "You know that I am a pirate as well. Bringing me back to Port Royal would be the death of me. I have as much reason to die as Captain Jack."

"Not quite my dear. You see," Mikan jerked Elizabeth's head back so she was looking up into his face. "I like you and I want you around. One word from me and you are a pirate no more. Jack, well, he is a different story. I have nothing to lose in killing him."

"But I am a pirate just the same. Besides, Jack is a good man, a better man than you could ever be."

Mikan just glared into Elizabeth's upturned face for a moment. Jack saw what was coming too late. He realized bitterly that he couldn't stop it if he wanted to in his current position.

Mikan hauled back and slapped her hard against the face, sending her sprawling across the deck. Jack snarled and tried to jerk free of his captors but their grip was fierce. He became frantic when he saw Mikan bend over Elizabeth, grabbing her face in his hands.

"I will marry you as I promised and you will realize a woman's place."

Elizabeth smiled bitterly. "I am already married."

Jack hated to hear those words but was glad to see that Mikan hated to hear them as well.

"Oh, Elizabeth, you have much to learn and the first thing is that you must tame that tongue of yours because it will do you no good. The second thing, something I will teach you now, is that you have absolutely no power over me. Neither does that pathetic blacksmith you decided to wed. There are no documents confirming you're so called marriage anyway."

"I have a friend who could convince you otherwise," Jack said.

He yanked Elizabeth to her feet and turned her around to face Jack again. Jack could see the angry red welt already forming into a bruise on the right side of her face. He found himself missing his blade more than he ever had.

"You can begin learning your place by watching me whip your friend here," Mikan snarled.

Elizabeth couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips. It seemed to please Mikan. He signaled to one of his men to bring out the whip.

Elizabeth looked into Jack's eyes. She saw nothing but stubborn pride and fearlessness. She had come to expect nothing less. A smug smirk crept onto his face and it made her want to weep. Now, here was a chance for her to save him. He was always there for her. He was even prepared to take the whip for her.

Jack was spun around, his hands placed on the rail and his shirt back ripped open, as was the way to prepare one for a whipping. The man with the whip stepped up to Jack and took his stance, ready to begin as soon as he had the signal.

Elizabeth couldn't take it. She turned to face Mikan. "Please. I will do anything if you let Jack go free."

Mikan was amused by her plea. "See, now you are beginning to understand. You may ask things of me but never demand them."

Jack grabbed the rail until his knuckled were white. He knew what Elizabeth planned to do and he had to stop her. After all, it was the very reason he knew she couldn't stay on Dugs Island. She needed to be free and she was about to give up that freedom to yet another man. Only this time, she was giving it up for him.

He winced as she spoke the words that he was thinking aloud.

"I will go back with you to Port Royal without any trouble and marry you if you let him go."

Mikan chuckled and gave the signal for the whip to land on Jack's back once. It drew an angry, red trail of blood in its wake but Jack didn't utter a sound.

Mikan sighed. "No, Elizabeth. The thing is, I have you and so there is no reason for you to try and negotiate. There is nothing you have to offer that would convince me to let this scum go." The whip landed on Jack again. "I get a reward for bringing him in to be hanged and I get you as my wife." Mikan grabbed Elizabeth hard around the waist and pulled her to him. "I couldn't ask for more therefore there is nothing more you could offer me."

Elizabeth, in a burst of power, threw herself out of Mikan's arms and in front of Jack. "You wouldn't want your new wife to be all beaten up would you? Because the only way you will land another strike on Jack is through me."

Enraged at Mikan and afraid for the foolhardy move of Elizabeth, Jack found the strength in himself to move away from his captors grasp, knocking the large man into the water. He turned to see Elizabeth, eyes full of renewed hope at his escape, looking at him. A smile crossed her own beautiful face

"I promise you Mikan, I will pay you back in full, probably one of the only debts I will ever pay in my life." He slowly took Elizabeth's hand and pulled her toward the edge of the ship.

"And how will you do that?" Mikan asked, seemingly amused.

Jack pondered the thought for a moment. "When you least expect it."

"Well, how do you expect to leave this ship alive?" As Mikan spoke, more men were emerging, guns in their hands.

Jack smiled as one of Mikan's men aimed a gun at his chest. "Like this mate."

With that, he pulled Elizabeth behind him. He felt her grip his arm tightly. Gently, he elbowed her, to signal that she should jump ship. He knew that she wouldn't want to. He hoped that she would do it anyway.

Mikan seemed surprised at Jack's action. So did Elizabeth.

"Jack, what are you doing?" she whispered, her breath hot and distracting on Jack's ear. He mentally slapped himself. This was no time to be distracted by Elizabeth. It seemed like thoughts of her came at the most inconvenient times.

Elizabeth answered herself. "Well, you better not be telling me to run away. You're a pirate and pirates do not do things like this."

Mikan heard Elizabeth. "Yes. This is most unlike a pirate, attempting to save fair lady before himself, attempting to save anyone before himself for that matter."

Jack shrugged. "I can't help it mate. Some dames just do things to you." He leaned toward Mikan slightly. "I am confused myself mate. She killed me once. I don't know why I save her."

The crew was momentarily confused by the turn of events and their leader's hesitation. Jack was thrilled to see more confusion in Mikan's eyes at his comment. He took this moment to finish their escape.

He reached back and placed a hand across Elizabeth's stomach. "You will have to forgive my reach dearie." With that, he shoved her over the edge and into the water.

Not willing to die himself, Jack bowed slightly with a smile. Mikan snapped out of it fast and hollered the order to fire. Jack didn't want to wait around. He leapt up onto the rail and prepared to jump off backward. Before his feet left the wood, the man had his gun trained on Jack's chest and fired.

Jack saw it coming and twisted, but not fast enough. He heard Elizabeth scream his name as he felt the bullet rip across his shoulder. He smiled. Jack Sparrow had cheated death, for the moment. A shoulder would heal itself.

He hit the water hard. He opened his eyes under the water and spotted Elizabeth. He surfaced close to her face. She let out a small gasp and opened her mouth to speak but Jack placed his hand over her mouth before she could utter a word. He nodded down at the boat and he could see that she understood.

Together, hands linked, they took in a deep breath and swam under the water to the side of the ship. Jack held Elizabeth close to him as they floated, waiting for the ship, along with Mikan, to sail away.


	9. Chapter 9

Ch 9

Mikan peered over the edge of his ship, yelling orders to calm the chaos behind him. How Jack had escaped was beyond him. The plan was simple and seemingly foolproof. He had Jack as well as his very own future wife safely aboard his ship, miles away from Jack's crew and his only chance at escape. Or so it had seemed.

But somehow, Jack had escaped all the same. The pirate was a lot more cunning than Mikan had given him credit for, using a smooth and confusing jumble of words in a speech that left him aghast and puzzled. He had heard of the infamous Jack Sparrows tricks of the tongue but was not as prepared for it as he had thought he would be.

His blue eyes followed the gentle curve of each wave, searching for any sign of Jack or Elizabeth. He knew the man who had shot at Jack was successful. He had seen the bullet contact Jack and seen the crimson blood spill out beneath his white shirt. He knew Jack couldn't swim for long with an injured shoulder.

The small, rat like man that had spied for Mikan in Tortuga, Mikan's first mate Slav, approached him from behind. "Shall we dispatch the longboats, sir? The two have to be around the ship somewhere."

Mikan shook his head. "Keep our course. We move forward as before."

Slav sent him a puzzled look. "But sir, they cannot have gotten far..."

Mikan whirled on him, a sly grin on his face. "It is a fine day for a hunt, Slav. You should know better than anyone of my joy of the hunt." He turned to face the water again, hands tucked behind his back. "I enjoy toying with my prey. Besides, this Jack Sparrow is an interesting fellow and more of a challenge than I had thought him to be. Let them run, they have earned the extra time."

Slav nodded and proceeded to shout the orders to the rest of the crew. Oh yes, it was a fine day for a hunt indeed.

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The sun shone beautifully on the water. Soft, unthreatening breezes blew about. It was a perfect day for sailing, if one had a ship. Elizabeth clung to Jack as Mikan's ship began to sail away. With a nod from Jack, the two of them submerged themselves under the water once again, sinking deep into the darker water where it was harder to be spotted from above.

Elizabeth's lungs had started to tire and her arms and legs were feeling weak from the amount of time they had been treading water. When they broke the surface, heads barely popping up, Elizabeth was pleased to see Mikan had moved on.

"Here Jack; let me see your wrists." She swam even closer to Jack, reaching for his wrists. He looked at her, a question in his eyes. Elizabeth just smiled mysteriously and pulled out a set of Mikan's keys.

Jack's face lit up in surprise. "Well Lizzie, it seems you are more of a pirate than I thought."

She shrugged at his obvious praise. "I had to make some use of his groping me. He had the keys conveniently tucked in the loose fitting belt of his. I figured getting you out of those bonds may make swimming a little easier."

She looked at all of the keys, wondering which one belonged to the cuffs. Jack placed his hand over the set, knowing without question which key it was, freeing himself with skill that Elizabeth knew he must have had practice at.

"I wonder why he doesn't pursue us. He must know that we are here. Where else could we have gotten to?" Elizabeth asked Jack as he tossed the cuffs aside with obvious disgust and started to swim towards an island not too far away.

"That's the thing about ol' Mikan, love. He is toying with us." Jack's strokes were powerful but he never trailed too far ahead of Elizabeth.

She shook her head in disbelief. "So you think that he let us go on purpose?"

Jack laughed bitterly. "No doubt Lizzie. I am sure the man knew that we were close to an island and that we would try to make our escape. He knows what he is doing I will give him that. We are almost as trapped as we were on that bloody ship."

The rest of the swim was in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. The layers of their clothes slowed down their progress considerably so by the time they reached the island, it was late afternoon.

Elizabeth dragged herself up onto the sand, exhausted. Jack, too, seemed to drag his feet a bit as they came back up onto land. The weary condition of his body did nothing to stop the curses he muttered under his breath, Elizabeth noted with a small smile. It was gone in an instant when Jack swayed dangerously on his feet. Her eyes set upon the growing red spot on his shoulder and panic clutched at her heart.

"Jack! You are bleeding!"

Jack looked down at himself with curiosity. "Oh! That I am love. That I am!" He swayed again, this time his knees completely buckling. Elizabeth caught him before he hit the sand and gently lowered him down. She grunted at the strain, surprised that a man as lean as Captain Jack could be so heavy.

"Oh, Jack, you are heavy!" She peered at his face, worried that he hadn't come back at her with a clever response. His eyes were distant and cloudy. "Jack! Jack, stay with me ok. You cannot fall asleep!" Elizabeth leaned over his prone body, her face inches from his as her hands worked fiercely to undo his shirt. Her eyes searched his, watching carefully that his all too glassy eyes didn't shut on her.

"Of course I will stay with you love! Why would I want to sleep... just or a minute..." Jack's eyelids started to close.

"Jack No! Jack! Stay awake. AWAKE!" She grabbed his face with both hands. "Jack, tell me about another one of your adventures. Tell me what you have been up to."

Jack groaned softly as Elizabeth peeled away a section of his shirt caught in the wound. "It hadn't been but a day since we were apart and I came to get you Lizzie. Not much can happen to a man in such a short time."

Elizabeth laughed a forced, distracted sound. At least he was awake and talking. She moved her eyes away from his to focus on the wound. She gave a sigh of relief as she saw that it had, indeed, missed his heart. "Oh good. Jack, it seems you were only shot in the shoulder."

Jack's breathing was quite labored by this time. "Don't think it is any less painful, love," he gasped. "Though I have been through worse, let me assure you."

The wound was deep. Elizabeth was satisfied to see that the bullet had missed bone. Overall, the wound was quite neat. The bullet itself had went straight through him so there was no risk of the bullet still being lodged in him. But she knew that the issue of the bullet was never the real problem. The two of them had been swimming for close to an hour. The loss of blood was the real threat. She knew little of wounds and doctor work. What she did know is that the wound needed to be cleaned and the bleeding stopped. If it wasn't...

She shuddered and refused to think further on that subject.

She worked to get Jack's shirt the rest of the way off, the wetness of the ocean and the sand sticking to the fabric making it hard, heavy work. He winced at the movement but never uttered a sound. "It is naught but a flesh wound. Captain Jack has had worse. But please, do me a favor and be gentle on the slash across me back would ye Lizzie? It is still a bit fresh and therefore quite troublesome."

Elizabeth gasped as she remembered that wound too. "I hate to ask this of you but Jack, you need to sit up for me. We can't have you getting your back wound all filled with sand and infection."

Jack attempted at a smile, wagging his finger in Elizabeth's face. "Ah, but I have heard that a good bit o' sand does a wound fine, keeps it clotted and away from said infectious disease."

Elizabeth fixed him with a reprimanding scowl. Jack's eyes widened in innocence. "Don't fix me with those brown eyes Miss. Turner." Jack noted with some grim satisfaction the look that crossed her eyes yet again when she was referred to by her married name. As quick as the look had come, it was gone. Very interesting, Jack thought making note.

"Well, I have been brought up in Port Royal and have been looked at by some of the finest doctors in all of England."

"Luck devils," Jack muttered under his breath.

Elizabeth's cheeks reddened a bit as she went on, ignoring his comment. "So I happen to know that the best thing for your wounds right now is a good cleaning. That does not include sand. Now, give me some rum."

Jack attempted to sit, Elizabeth's hand behind his back doing much of the work to bring him upright. "What's this? The honorable Elizabeth wishes to have a taste of the good stuff, eh?"

Elizabeth set a gentle but firm hand on Jack's chest, stilling his progress before he tumbled forward. "Jack, please. We need to get you bound up. You have lost a lot of blood. Now the rum if you please."

Jack produced the bottle with obvious reluctance, taking a swig of it before he passed it off to Elizabeth.

"Now Jack," she warned. "This is going to be a bit more unpleasant than the way you use it." Jack fixed her with a curious gaze which quickly turned into a look of surprise and pain as she proceeded to dump the half of the remaining contents into the wound on his shoulder.

Elizabeth winced at his discomfort even as she noted, guilty at the thought, what nice muscles rippled his abdomen as they contracted in pain.

This time, Jack could not play the strong man. "Agh! Lizzie! What in God's good name..." He withered in his place, attempting to stand and make off toward the water to wash out the rum from his wound. Elizabeth held him firmly in his place. "Tell me how... such a wonderful... thing could be turned so vile..." he gasped, trailing off with nothing but a hiss at the pain.

"Rum has always been a vile drink," she muttered as she moved around to his back and prepared to dump more of the drink there. Jack grabbed her hand, stilling her motion.

"Please, spare me this fate. It would have been far easier to be shot through the heart."

Elizabeth found herself surprised at the strength in his hold. In fact, she found that she could not escape his grasp. "Jack, this is the only way to insure that the wound is properly cleaned."

Jack released her hand. "Then tell me, how is this any better than the natural and decidedly less painful sand treatment?"

The question remained unanswered and no further pursued as Elizabeth dumped the remaining contents in the wound on his back. She noted with satisfaction that this wound was hardly bleeding anymore and had already begun to heal. Although Jack made no sound this time, she knew of his pain by the way his back muscles contracted with the adding of the liquid.

As the wound began to dry, she started tearing away at her shirt. Although still wet from the sea, she knew the need to stop the bleeding on the shoulder was more important than the absence of a clean, dry cloth. She wrapped it tightly around Jack's bicep and up under his armpit to keep the cloth in place. She finished tying it tightly. Jack didn't say a word even as she lay him back down onto his jacket.

"Now Jack, do not move off of this jacket. I won't have you getting sand into the wound on your back."

A small smirk tugged at the corners of Jack's mouth, even as his eyes closed. "Never have I been so well attended doctor Lizzie, what if you ignore the extreme pain and misery you caused me with your so called healing."

She smiled tiredly back at him as she watched him drift off into sleep. She knew that it was still dangerous for him to sleep but the need for rest was undeniable. It was a dangerous game, teetering between the need to sleep to fight off fever of infection and the danger of never waking again from the loss of blood.

That is why, she told herself over and over, she stayed by his side, watching him intently for any sign of distress. Not because she enjoyed the steady rise and fall of his breathing, the way his face relaxed with no signs of pain or worry, the way the sun glinted off his already tanned skin. Regardless of the reason, she found herself sitting there for a long time, a feeling resembling peace.

What caught her attention the most was the scars on his chest and arms. She found looking at them gave her hope. Jack Sparrow had been through much worse. So this wound should be an easy recovery. It startled her how much this revelation set her at ease. She was also startled to see the way her hands shook as she went to touch his marked arm, tracing the long wound scar from wrist to where her cloth was bound to his shoulder.

She took a deep breath to steady the shaking and wondered at its cause. It couldn't be, she assured herself, a result of Jack's condition. And it surely was not a result of touching Jack. Why she even cared of his condition puzzled her. He was her friend once again, it seemed. Then why tremble so at the lightest brush of skin.

She shook her head and pulled her hand away. She decided that the former was the cause. She just didn't want to see someone else die because of her.

"I can't lose you. Not you too..." she whispered as she stood and went off in search of food. That is why she didn't notice the small, tender smile creep onto the face of a very much awake Jack Sparrow.

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Jack woke not remembering when it was he had fallen asleep. He could tell he had been asleep for a while by the low position of the sun as it dipped lower and lower into the horizon and by the way the sky was taking on beautiful hues of orange and pink. He sat up slowly and was pleased to feel less pain in his head than before. He found that he had been moved at some point, farther away from the water's edge and into the shelter of the trees. Next to him, a small fire burned.

His lips curved up in a smile. Elizabeth was as smart as ever. She knew that a fire would be easily spotted from the sea and so had moved him, most likely dragged him, and built a fire under the shelter of the trees. He found himself searching for her but the dense cover of the bushes before him prohibited it.

With a small wince, he pushed himself up onto his feet. He swayed much more than he would have liked and found himself glad that Elizabeth wasn't around. Despite the wondrous contact and close proximity that this wound had brought with Elizabeth, he found the need for assistance in the most trivial tasks most annoying and humiliating.

So, with the help of a tree or two to keep him upright, he wobbled out into the sand of the beach just beyond the obstructive bush. There he found Elizabeth, seated on a piece of driftwood on the shore, staring out onto the sea. He thought the image rather breathtaking and found that he didn't want to disturb it. His feet started moving toward her anyway. Before he could reach her side, she turned to him.

"Jack, what are you doing up?"

He waved a hand absently at her concern. Though he found the need to sit down a little greater than he would have liked.

Elizabeth studied him. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine thank you missy. As you can see," He gestured to his bare chest and the numerous scars there "I have been through worse."

A slight blush tinted Elizabeth's cheeks as he gestured to his scars. He tried not to smile as he knew the cause of her blush. He himself tried to settle the growing feeling he was getting remembering her tracing his scars lightly as he "slept."

"And how is the pirate king feeling?"

Elizabeth shrugged, a sad look coming into her eyes as she cast them back out to the sea. That is when he remembered that she had wounds of her own from Mikan, both physical and emotional. He grabbed her face gently with his hands, amused to see Elizabeth's look of surprise. "Just hold still love. Let ol' Jack take a look at you."

Elizabeth squirmed a bit at his touch, trying weakly to escape his gaze and steady hand. When he didn't yield, she sat still and resorted to speaking. "I don't want a diagnosis from a man who believes that sand rubbed into an open wound is satisfactory."

Jack smirked at her, his eyes boring into hers. "There is that prissy talk. Just like old times." He shook his head and moved his eyes to the side of her face. In the dying light, the wound from Mikan was still all too visible, purple and angry. "God Lizzie, did the bloody fool break your jaw?"

Elizabeth just scowled. "It doesn't even hurt so if you please..."

Jack reached a careful, ring clad hand up to brush the bruise. Even such a light touch brought her to shudder, her face scrunching in pain. He allowed her to pull away from him.

"There is nothing that could be done anyway. A wound like this is just to be left alone."

"You are in pain Lizzie," Jack stated the obvious.

She glared at him. "If you wouldn't touch it, we wouldn't have a problem at all."

He held his hands up in mock defense. The two sat in silence, watching the sun dip completely out of view. They remained in place, side by side and silent until the sky turned black as ink and stars speckled the black canvas.

Elizabeth felt a slight brush on her arm and turned to see Jack offering her a small flask. She couldn't help but laugh in amazement. "Jack, do you always have some spot of rum on you?"

Jack sent her that cockeyed grin. "Always love. But in all seriousness, a swig or two of this stuff will help dull the pain."

She looked at him and could tell he meant more than just the physical pain. And it was the fact that he knew so much of her, the fact that he was real, still with her and caring for her when the rest of the world had shattered around her, that she took the rum and swallowed a burning mouthful. She knew that she trusted him because she had no other choice. Surely that was the only reason she would drink such dreadful stuff.

"Good girl." Jack muttered and she was surprised to hear his voice seemed hoarse.

She looked at him and smiled weakly, handing him back the little flask. "This is so much like the time we were marooned before, Jack." She sighed and softly began to sing. "We're devils, we're black sheep, we're really bad eggs. Drink up me hearties yo ho."

Jack lifted the flask to his lips with a smile. When he removed it from his mouth, he joined in, his voice rough and low. It seemed to Elizabeth that the words were meant to be sung by him. "Yo ho yo ho, a pirates life for me." When her voice joined in, she was startled to think that the words seemed to be meant for her too.


	10. Chapter 10

Ch 10

Jack opened his eyes and was greeted by the bright morning sun. He found his muscles stiff from a night spent on the soft but harsh ground of the tree guarded beach. He grunted, the memories of his current position coming back to him. He was trapped on a God forsaken spit of land and that was decidedly the last position he wanted to be in.

But memories of the past night came back to him as well. He and Elizabeth had had a great time together, in many ways like the first time they were marooned on an island. There was rum, singing and careless abandon. In many ways it was different too. Elizabeth was a married woman this time around and, most importantly, he didn't wake to the sight of Elizabeth burning his rum.

He felt something stir beside him. Ah, so his position was not all bad. He looked down and was greeted by the sight of a rather beautifully peaceful Elizabeth. She was curled up into his side, her face buried into the crook of his neck and her left hand gently placed over his bound up wound. He couldn't help the smile that came to his lips, although he was sure she would find this situation anything but entertaining when she woke.

He could see just how it would go. She would wake up, blinking sleepily into the bright morning sun, lift her beautiful brown eyes to look at him and then... he would have the fury of the fierce pirate king Lizzie to deal with. Oh yes, he could see it clearly. Of course, all the blame would rest squarely on his shoulders. Yes, because there could be no way that Elizabeth could have gotten in such a position by herself. Although that was exactly what happened.

Well, not today, love. I will not be accused of that which I would love more than anything but hold back from for naught but your honor. He began thinking of a way to gently untangle himself from her limbs, while at the same time trying not to wake her, settle the wanderings of his imagination and convince himself that holding back for her honor did not make him a 'good man' as she so often claimed him to be. After all, it was quite an unfair thing to have to throw away such a golden opportunity. And pirates were not known as "good men." He did have a reputation to keep.

Just as he thought he had found a way to squirm out of her awkward and accidental embrace, she mumbled something that stopped him cold. "Freedom... the Black Pearl is..."

Jack stopped breathing and resettled himself beside her. If she was going to talk in her sleep so close, there was really no need to hold back from listening.

"Mikan... please..." She started to tremble beside him, her once peaceful look broken by some sort of bad dream.

Jack found himself reaching for her cheek, gently tracing a finger over the bruise. He told himself that he was just trying to see if its condition had improved, even as his slender, rough fingers ran along her jaw line and up into a wisp of golden brown hair.

She seemed to relax at his touch, letting out a long sigh as her face relaxed into somewhat of a peaceful position again. Jack noticed her recovery and sighed himself. He did not still his fingers. They continued their lazy patterns in her hair. He found he rather enjoyed twisting each curl and wisp around his fingers. And curse him but he found he more than liked the way she seemed to fit perfectly into the crook of his neck.

He pulled his hand away as if burned. He had been with many, many women. Surely all pirate and sailor alike had. But none more than Captain Jack Sparrow. Why, then, did he feel such a protective appreciation for the beauty beside him? Why was it that he had been without the company of pleasing women ever since he met Elizabeth and even the thought of spending time with them paled in comparison to the time he would love to spend with her? And why did the thought of spending the time with her the same way he did with those other numerous women appeal little?

He snorted. Sure, he would love nothing more than that type of company with her but he found himself holding back. That puzzled him. Surely he could have her. Who would turn away the legendary Captain Jack Sparrow? In fact, he found that that particular 'activity' was farther back in his mind when he spent time with her. He found himself thinking more of her cunning mind, much like his own, the way her determination and love of the sea shone so brightly, the way her laugh sounded as the sea breezes danced with it.

She was a witch, he decided. That had to be it. No women had ever caused him to think in such a way. In poetic theme and observation? He snorted again. Captain Jack was not some stuffed shirt whelp that pranced around after women to please them with such things. Oh no. They came to him. That was how it was and how it should stay. He didn't need bloody things like that to be looked at and approved by women. And since when did he seek any woman's approval?

To his dismay, memories of his times with Elizabeth came to him. Now when, another side of him asked, have you ever done anything in her presence not painfully aware of her gaze and wanting to please her? He found not one time. When she was around him he always thought of her and what she thought of him.

No, this wouldn't do. This wouldn't do at all. He cursed out loud as he had to pull his hand away from her hair again. He stood up angrily. She seemed to whimper a bit from the loss. He moved to walk out to the beach and out of the cover of the trees and bushes. He froze when he heard her speak again.

"Will..."

Pain slammed him. A bitter taste came into his mouth. Ah, yes. The whelp. She was thinking he had been the whelp, the Captain of the Flying Dutchman. And she missed him. She was married to him after all.

That thought kept him walking to the beach and fueled his action as he built a large bonfire. The rest of his crew was most likely not but an hour away. They would have pursued soon after they woke from their drunken stupor. They would need a signal to find him. Elizabeth proved this tactic very effective last time they were marooned together. He found himself dreading the company of Elizabeth on his ship for the first time in his life. Because surely what she was doing to him was irreversible. And that irreversible thing, that undeniable feeling, could never come to be.

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Elizabeth shifted in the midst of her dream, rolling onto her back. A sharp pain pulled her out of sleep. Confused, she sat up, looking behind her at what she had laid on. It was a beautiful stone, shimmering beautifully in the early light.

A small smile crept onto Elizabeth's face as she picked up the stone with her free hand. She rubbed the sore spot on her back with her other hand while examining the way the green edges of the stone reflected the light. It really was a breathtaking stone. The first thing that came to Elizabeth's mind was that the stone was jade. She wasn't quite sure where that could be found but that was the only stone with such a green color that she had ever seen.

Her smile dropped away as the use of the muscles in her face caused her bruise to throb. She tucked the stone away in her belt to show Jack later. She was sure that the treasure loving pirate could identify it for her.

Elizabeth stood slowly, making her way towards the beach. She was startled to see a large fire in the sand, a pillar of smoke climbing lazily and black into the sky. She spotted Jack, hands on his hips, staring off at the approaching ship on the horizon. She observed his profile as she approached him.

He seemed dazed, his gaze directed out on the sea but not really seeing it. His frame was motionless and his torso was clothed once again. She noticed he stiffened as she approached and wondered why. Everything had seemed fine the night before, better than fine as far as she could tell, especially considering their position. And with his crew, for surely that was who was coming, so close to retrieving them, there should be no need for worry. Unless it was not his crew.

This thought had her at his side quickly. "Who is coming?"

Jack didn't face her and his voice was all business when he spoke. "It's the Pearl's crew aboard the Song. I am glad to see Mikan didn't destroy it when he took us away."

Elizabeth came around to face him. "Jack, what's wrong?"

Jack's eyes finally focused on her and she could tell that his smile was forced, void of the warmth it held last night. "Nothi'n love. I am glad to be free of this island and anxious to be back on the open sea." His eyes had glanced down at the bruise on her cheek as he spoke but as soon as he was done speaking his eyes were right back out onto the sea.

The crew dropped anchor and reached the shore within the hour, a rather frazzled looking Gibbs climbing out of the longboat to meet Jack. "Captain! It is a relief to find ye well. You too Miss. Elizabeth." His face dropped as he saw the bruise on her jaw. He opened his mouth to inquire but Jack cut him off.

"Mr. Gibbs, I assume you took good care of the crew in my absence." Gibbs held the boat as Elizabeth and Jack climbed in.

"It was near chaos without you sir. While we sail with good honest men, the loss of you sent us all into a hardly controlled panic."

Jack fixed Gibbs with a look over his shoulder. "This was after you all broke free of your hangovers I imagine."

Gibbs smiled nervously. "Aye. It was a night of celebration."

"And I expected no less. Now let's get back to the Song if you please."

Elizabeth studied Jack's stiff back the whole row back to the Song. Gibbs was the only one talking, going on about how thankful he was to find the two of them safe and sound and how he wished Jack could tell him all of what happened. They climbed up onto the deck of the Song and received many a relieved glance and smile. Everything about Jack as he shouted orders to the crew was how she remembered him when they first met. It unnerved her. Because when they had first met, they didn't know each other. He was just a pirate she had dreamed of meeting and she was just a silly, weak governor's daughter.

She knew something had happened with Jack. Somehow something had happened between them. She tried to ignore it, telling herself that surely it was best that way. They were getting so close before and she was opening up in a way that she never had with Will. It was for the best that they add some distance between each other for Will's sake.

It will be different when Will returns, she told herself as she wandered into the captain's cabin to check on the heart. It was still there, beating in the chest. She slid it under the bed and sat down, hanging her head in her hands. The placement of her hand caused her to wince. She had forgotten about the bruise. Tears came into her eyes from the pain and the growing frustration. Yes, things may be different when Will returns but that does not change the fact that he will only be with me for a day, she reminded herself as the tears started to fall.

She found she could not stop them and so when Kole knocked on her door to summon her for a morning meal, she turned him away. She did not want to be seen by the crew as a sniveling, crying girl. She was the pirate king and a woman of the sea. She treasured her position on the ocean more than she thought she could love and treasure anything. She knew that her time on the water should make her happy, distract her from her predicament.

She realized, with a great bit of alarm, how easy it was for her mind to wander back to such grim thoughts with Jack acting so different. It threw her off, just like when they were coming back from Davey's locker with him. He had been cold and distant to her then. While this time, this day, he wasn't angry with her she was sure, he was distracted and purposely brief with her. It was still a startling change, one she was sure was because of Mikan.

"I have caused Jack and his crew so much trouble already," she whispered. "It is time I left. The life that Jack leads is dangerous enough. My presence only draws more to him, specifically Mikan and his ties to the East India Trading Company, a very threat to his way of life."

Her fingers pulled out the stone she had found on the beach. She had forgotten all about it. By the position of the light as it came through the small window, she could tell she had also forgotten to keep track of time. The sliver of remaining sunlight was long and strong. Night must be quickly approaching. When she searched her subconscious, she remembered someone knocking on her door another time, must have been afternoon, and she had ignored the person there. That must have been a call for food again.

She shook her head and tossed the stone up into the air. It really is a pretty stone, she thought. I wish I could keep in with me always, in a safe place.

A gentle knock pulled her out of her thoughts. She decided not to answer. She already felt terrible about avoiding the crew for the day and to see the crew again would be painful, knowing that she would leave them soon. She wasn't sure how much more heartbreak she could take.

When she didn't speak, she was startled to see the door open. Jack stood there, the now orange, soft glow of the setting sun filling the space behind him in the doorway. He didn't say a word, just stepped inside quietly. He shut the door behind him and made his way to her.

Elizabeth held the stone tightly as he sat next to her on the bed. Her heart was beating much faster than she would like to admit. She didn't meet his gaze, although she could tell he looked her over for quite some time before he spoke. "The crew tells me that you haven't been out to eat."

Elizabeth felt a sinking in her heart. The way he spoke to her was very impersonal. It wasn't he that noticed her lack of eating; it was word from the crew. She shrugged and kept her eyes trained on the floorboards.

Silence enveloped them. Elizabeth felt it comfortable, despite the circumstance. She never felt judged around him. She felt almost as if she were his equal in battle and in his company. Will always seemed to shelter her during a battle, by her side and never out if his sight. He always tried to prove things to her too. While she appreciated the companionship and care he had for her, she felt that he still didn't trust her.

That thought made her slump more in her seat, her mind forgetting about the fact that Jack was in the room. She and Will had been married in the heat of battle. There had been so much left in the open, never taken care of. Will had betrayed so many people and she felt that she couldn't really trust him. She did know that she could depend on him to take care of her, but at what price? He had told her that he couldn't trust her as well and was trust not one of the biggest building blocks to every relationship.

"Elizabeth..." Jack's gentle voice and the use of her full name startled her out of her thoughts once again. She blushed a bit.

"I am sorry Jack. I have been thinking."

He smiled his cockeyed grin. "Ah. Perhaps you should be rid of that hobby."

Elizabeth couldn't help but smile. She tried to scowl over it. "Why thank you for the suggestion. You are quite the gentleman."

Jack stood before her and bowed. She moved to punch him lightly in the arm. He caught her wrist with ease. He looked curiously at her clenched fist. "What do you have there Lizzie?"

Elizabeth jerked her hand out of his grasp. "I found it on the island." She held it up for his examination and could see the way his eyes lit up. "I was going to ask you about it but you seemed... distracted."

Jack looked past the stone to meet her eyes. What she saw there scared and amazed her. She could recognize sadness and some regret. But there was something else there, something she had seen before but couldn't place. His eyes seemed darker than she had ever seen them.

She couldn't help a gasp as he took a step towards her. He took the stone from her hand and she found that she didn't resist him. She was caught in his eyes by some form of sorcery. It seemed that she couldn't do much of anything when he looked at her in the way he was. She was horrified and thrilled to feel herself take a step toward him, closing any remaining space between them. She felt it was the only thing to do. She felt an irresistible urge to touch his skin. It was so beautifully sun kissed.

Before she could talk herself out of it, her hand brushed his arm, coming to rest on the side of his face. She felt Jack stiffen a bit, heard his sharp intake of breath. "Elizabeth." He spoke her name more softly than she had ever heard him speak.

Suddenly, he stepped back, away from her. His eyes turned cold and sadness blotted out whatever else was there. She heard herself whimper at the loss of contact, even though she knew that he had done what she should have been able to do. His eyes were still glued to hers. It seemed to take some effort for him to tear them away to look at the gem in his hand.

Elizabeth shook the growing feeling away. It would only make her leaving that much harder. She waited for him to speak. When he did, she was surprised. "I will need all hands on deck tomorrow love." His voice seemed raw and rough. "The weather is acting up. I am sure we will run into a storm before we reach land."

Elizabeth nodded and forced a smile. "I apologize for hiding out here all day. I guess I lost track of time."

Jack opened the door. "There is a lot on your mind I imagine. A lot has happened."

With that, he walked out of the cabin. Elizabeth let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and sank back down onto the bed. It wasn't until she started to drift off to sleep that she remembered Jack had her stone.


	11. Chapter 11

Ch 11

Jack flopped down onto his hammock after putting Cotton at the wheel. His body was more than ready for the rest but his mind was abuzz. He told himself it was the fact that he wasn't in the captains bed that he was used to. That thought led to the person he gave up his room for. He had a sneaky suspicion that she was the true reason behind his free running thoughts.

After what must have been hours of laying in the darkness, listening to the breathing of his crew, darkness finally claimed him.

Jack's eyes shot open a few hours later. He was sure he had heard a creaking board. He lay still for a moment. When he didn't hear anything else, he started to relax. It was a simple shifting of weight above, that was all. Perhaps it was the fact that the movement was up in Elizabeth's cabin that spurred his senses and worry.

Despite the reassuring thought, he found that sleep still wouldn't come. His instincts told him something was wrong.

He pulled himself out of the hammock and walked to the steps at the end of the room. He tuned out the snores of his crew as he focused all his attention and senses on what was above. His right hand came to rest on the hilt of his sword as he made his way up the stairs. The closer he got to the deck, the more sure he was that they weren't alone. The cry of Cotton's pirate alerted him a moment before a gun shot rang through the air.

Stealth forgotten, Jack vaulted up the stairs, his crew stirring behind him as he shouted "On deck all hands! Men to guns!"

When he reached the deck, he was speechless. Cotton lay on the ground, motionless. Startled but still cautious, he crept toward Cotton's body. Motion to his right caught his eye.

"Run out the cannons! On Deck ye scurvy dogs!" Jack hollered as he looked out onto the sea. Half the crew was there, staring open mouthed at what he, too, saw. A ship with the name the Sea Lass was preparing to sail away from them. Grappling hooks disconnected from the Songs rail. Only one remained. Jack turned below deck and prepared to give the order to fire on Mikan's ship. It was right before him and was an easy target. It seemed too easy.

Jack turned and froze with his mouth open in preparation to shout the order to fire. Mikan stood before him, gun in his hand pressed threateningly against Elizabeth's temple. "I wouldn't give that order if I were you Jack."

Elizabeth's eyes were full of fear, all too clear to Jack even through the darkness of night. She gripped the arm around her throat fiercely. "I was just stopping by to pick up something you owe me. I know how bad you are at repaying your debts. So I figured, why trouble you. I shall just drop on by and leave without any trouble."

Jack's eyes went to where Cotton lay. Mikan followed his gaze. "Don't worry Jack. He is only sleeping, complements of my man on the inside." By this time, Mikan had reached the rail.

In one swift move, Jack pulled out his pistol. "You should know never to try and take treasure from a pirate."

"Oh, risky move Jack." Mikan scolded. "Can you trust that your shot is faster than mine?" Mikan's finger tightened dangerously on the trigger. "Besides, what treasure am I stealing?"

Jack nodded his head at Elizabeth. Mikan looked down at her with mock confusion. "Oh, you mean Miss. Swann?"

"It's Mrs. Turner," Elizabeth spat. It was then that Jack could tell just how tightly Mikan had his arm wrapped around her throat. She could barely choke out the words.

Mikan chuckled. "Not for long my dear."

"Then you and I have different ideas about what treasure really is mate. Not all treasure is silver and gold. That's what I say. What is it about all of Port Royal that thinks pirates only have a love of jewels and gold, trinkets and things that shimmer?" Jack took a step toward Mikan. "Not that these are bad treasures. Give me a gold doubloon any day. But we do love the company of a beautiful woman or the freedom of the sea. Oh, and rum. "

Mikan was caught off guard once again, but recovered quickly. "Pirates are scum. It would be a shame to have such a well bred wench such as Elizabeth wasted on the likes of you. So I repeat, I will take Elizabeth back to Port Royal where she belongs, out of these ridiculous clothes." The look of lust in his eyes made Jack's fingers itch for his sword. "I give you my word as a Lord to cause no harm to your despicable ship and crew."

"What, the legendary Captain Jack doesn't bring in a large enough reward for you? If I recall, a day ago you wanted me too."

"I am not a fool Jack. You have many men with you now, only held back by the fact that my crew has guns trained on you from the Sea Lass. It would be a pointless waste of time to fight for you when Elizabeth seems more than willing to go."

Jack was dumbstruck. He didn't even try to hide it as he glanced at Elizabeth's face for conformation. She wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Ah, so she has not told you?" Mikan asked, amused. "You must not have treated the lady well while she was with you. She fought me little and simply nodded when I told her she was coming with me."

"That is why you have your arm about her neck and a gun to her head, eh?" Jack sneered.

"That is nothing but a precaution and it seems to keep you at bay quite well. I don't exactly trust the wench. After all, she has spent a lot of time in the company of you lying vermin. Why, I cannot imagine." He smiled as one of his crew men climbed onto the rail next to him. "Now, we bid you leave."

Jack's scowl deepened and his crew gasped as they saw the ships cook, Marty. Jack heard mumblings of "He is the traitor?!" and "I loved his food" erupt behind him at the sight.

Marty grabbed Elizabeth and swung back to the Sea Lass. With the threat of Elizabeth being shot taken out of the situation, Jack cocked his pistol and prepared to shoot. Mikan shook his finger at Jack. "Have you forgotten about the ship full of men with their guns aimed directly at the heads of your crew?" He tucked his pistol into his belt as he grabbed his own getaway rope. With a fake bow, he swung away, leaving a very angry, very confused and very plan less pirate Captain.

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Gibbs shifted in his seat. The flickering light of the candles about him seemed depressing and void of warmth. The rum that he loved remained untouched in his mug. It, too, seemed cold and unpleasing. He glanced up at Jack who sat across from him at the table, his lips having just dropped from the flask of rum clasped in his hand. He obviously felt differently about it.

For what must have been the fifth time in the past hour that the two had sat in the now empty captain's cabin of the Song, Gibbs opened his mouth to speak to Jack and abruptly closed it again. Never before had he seen his captain so quiet and distraught.

Gibbs had knocked on the door an hour or so ago after Mikan had left with Elizabeth. Jack had stood in his place for a moment on deck, gun shaking in his hand ever so slightly. That was when Gibbs knew Jack was shaken more than he showed. The legendary captain was always so sure of himself and his shot. So he knew that he had to help when he saw Jack storm off into the captains quarters after giving the order to continue to sail on course. Jack had not answered when he knocked. When he walked in he found Jack sitting, staring but unseeing at the bottle clasped in his hand.

Jack set his bottle down with a bang. Gibbs eyes shot up to face his captain and friend as his mind came back to the present. An hour of nonstop drinking Gibbs had never witnessed from Jack. And for all of the times he had seen Jack drink plenty, never before had he seen him look so drunk.

By some method that Gibbs could not grasp, Jack never seemed to get drunk. Well, never truly drunk. He was always aware and alert even though he always acted intoxicated, rum or no. Gibbs knew it to be part of Jack's ruse to keep his enemies unawares. But this was no ruse. Whatever method he used was not in play here. The man before him was utterly and completely drunk.

"Jack. This be the fastest ship in the Caribbean. Surely we could catch the Sea Lass," he ventured slowly. Jack seemed not to have heard so he ventured further, sure he knew what plagued his friend. "We could have Miss. Elizabeth back with us within the night."

Jack's glassy eyes snapped up to meet Gibbs own. Gibbs couldn't not decipher whether it was the drunken state or tears that made them look so. He realized that the latter may be the more likely when Jack spoke, his voice hollow and void of emotion. "She left without a fight."

"That is what Mikan claims but what do we trust of…"

Gibbs winced as Jack spoke again, even though his voice was soft and defeated. "I could see it in her eyes, Gibbs."

The two sat together as silence enveloped them once again. Jack lifted the bottle again and took a big swig. After a moment, Gibbs spoke again, afraid and unsure. "You must believe you love her now Jack."

He literally shrank back into his seat a bit, awaiting the wrath and denial of Jack. The piercing and blank stare he received unnerved him more than the verbal assault he expected to have to endure. Through the sadness and fear, confusion and hurt reflected in the deep brown eyes, he saw the wheels turning.

Gibbs knew it was true. He could see it in every glance he ever sent her way. The whole situation reminded him of a horrible fairy tale told to children, filled with heroic deeds and victory. There is always the hero winning in the end and there is always a happy couple reunited. Where did that leave the remaining, forgotten characters?

The truth in the matter was that there was always sadness in the end. The evil stepsisters end up alone. The witch ends up dead. The knight makes off with the princess. Where does that leave the other side, the 'evil' side, the man who fought alongside the main character? Alone.

The fact of the matter, Gibbs thought, was that pirates were evil in the world's eyes, end of story. Speak the word and people go running. We pillage, we plunder, blah blah, blah. But Jack was the most noble, good hearted, honest man he knew, despite the bandanna clad man's attempts to hide it. This was one big story and in the end, the pirate sails on alone and the gentleman gets the girl.

Blast it all, Gibbs thought. Jack never did anything by the rules. He was a pirate that didn't kill unnecessarily. He didn't rape. He avoided battles as much as possible. And now he has gone and fell for the one woman he couldn't have. Gibbs shook his head as Jack lowered his eyes. He is attempting to rewrite the fairy tale we are currently in. Everyone knows the hero wins in the end. The question was, was Jack trying to change the very way fairy tales were to be written or just become the hero himself?


	12. Chapter 12

Ch 12

Jack sat deathly still. The ship swayed around him. The bottle of rum in his hand was soothingly cool to the touch. His thoughts were of one person and one person only; Elizabeth. Somehow, he had lost her, something he had never wanted to happen again. Gibbs words hit home and he was left to think on them as his first mate quietly exited the cabin.

He loved her. Bugger, he loved her and blast it all he always knew it. Perhaps the reason he had never gave over to the feeling was the fact that he knew deep down that he could never have her. Port Royal and all decent society claimed her before her true heart was set free by the sea. Then dear William captured her heart, forever to be his. Now this. Now she had taken herself out of his reach by that which he had no control. She left by freedom of choice. The freedom that she had was the very thing he longed to show her and now that she had it, the same wonderful thing had taken her away from him.

Another thing Gibbs had said surfaced. He had said that they were on the fastest ship in the Caribbean. Why would he have said that? It is so very untrue, Jack thought. The fastest ship on the sea is without a doubt the Black Pearl and she is long gone.

A sudden thought came into his head, one that hadn't surfaced since he found Elizabeth on that island. Barbossa would be back. He was on course for the Fountain of Youth without the vital piece to the chart. The piece that Jack himself possessed. So of course old Hector would be coming back. That is when he would wheel and deal to get himself back in command of his ship and head off to the Fountain of Youth.

One of the charts on the table shifted in its tube, rolling over and hitting his elbow. He glanced down at it with obvious displeasure. Through his sorrow and drunken state which was doing nothing to help him forget Lizzie, he noticed that something was wrong. The rocking of the ship was a bit more violent and the door to his cabin shook on its hinges.

With a grunt, Jack stood, a bit unsteadily at first, and headed for the rattling door. The presumed storm was here and he would need to be at the helm. The thought brought a sour smile to his lips along with the brilliant plan that he had had in the works. Everything would turn out as it was supposed to. He would be back in command of his ship and on his way to immortality while… Elizabeth sailed away into most certain pain and imprisonment with Mikan.

He yanked open the door angrily, donning his hat and coat. Rain pelted him from an angry night sky. All his crew had set about pulling the sails. Jack took his place at the wheel. Gibbs flashed him a relieved smile, visible for a split second as a bright, jagged slice of lightning split the sky and lit the deck in eerie light.

Jack stood at the helm, wind whipping his hair and rain soaking him to the bone. All of this made him laugh out loud, face upturned to the sky even as a huge wave smashed the side of the Song. This was not the Black Pearl but he would make this a storm weathered ship yet. He knew the angry waters of the ocean well. While each storm was different, ranging in intensity, the danger was the same for every storm he had ever encountered, as was the outcome. He had come out of every one he had sailed into and this storm would be no different.

The thing was, as unpredictable and dangerous as storms on the sea were, they were one of the only dangerous and unpredictable things in life that Jack could overcome. And that filled him with a sense of purpose, let him know that he still had some control in his life. In many ways, Elizabeth was a storm at sea. She had tossed his emotions about and tested his heart and very way of life in ways he never thought possible. The only difference between her and a storm was that he never had the edge over her. What had happened tonight was a painful testament to that. She was gone in a blink and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

The storm lasted a good half hour before it blew itself out. Exhausted and soaking the crew all headed down below for sleep. Cotton had been taken below a while ago and it seemed he was awakening just fine from the nights past happenings. Something had been slipped in his drink that had made him sleep like a baby for the rest of the night. As he awoke, the crew was relieved to find him alright.

So that left Jack at the helm. He preferred it that way, especially after the adrenalin of sailing through the storm was still pumping through his veins and the thoughts of Elizabeth still running rampant in his head. His left hand drifted to his belt while one remained on the wheel. His left hand rested upon the green stone in his pocket.

He cocked his head curiously to the side. He had forgotten that he had it. He pulled it out to look at it in the growing light of morning. It really was a breathtaking stone as far as rocks were concerned. Jack's mind started to work. Perhaps he could make this stone into something for Elizabeth, something so that she could keep it with her forever. It seemed she fancied the little rock ever since she found it.

That thought brought a smile to his lips. The gentle breezes stirred the trinkets in his hair. They let out a soft tinkling noise that he had become used to. Now, they set his mind to thinking. Lizzie was a pirate now, after all. The pirate king. She should have more of a pirate image for sure. And he believed himself to be the very man to help her out.

"Mr. Gibbs!" he shouted.

"Captain?"

"Get everyone up here. We have unfinished business in Tortuga."

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Elizabeth huddled in the cold cell that she had escaped not a day ago. Mikan had offered her his cabin, with him present. She had refused. So she found herself in a cold, dark place that was decidedly uncomfortable but much more enjoyable than that of the previously offered place. How long could she keep it up? How long would Mikan listen to her refusals? She knew her time was short. Surely this was all for the best.

When she thought about it, she was sure she had done the right thing. When Mikan had crept into her room that night, it was all she could do not to scream. As he whispered hot and threatening into her ear all of the wonderful things he had planned for the crew, for Jack, she had agreed to go with him without a fuss under the condition that he leave Jack and the crew alone. After all, what better way to ensure Mikan left Jack alone? Mikan's hunt for her would end the way he would like and she would not object.

The issue that really sealed the deal was a threat of her own.

"I am currently married to the captain of the Flying Dutchman."

She smiled as she recalled the fear in his eyes. The look was overcome by doubt and disbelief but she had seen enough to know that he believed for even a second. "He will be in a rage when he learns you have his wife in captivity. Therefore, I propose a deal."

She had agreed to make sure Will did not harm him in exchange for a promise that Jack would remain unharmed. Thinking back to it, she could think of no other time she had acted like more of a pirate. Because did she plan on keeping Mikan safe against Will's wrath? Not a chance. But at the time it was enough to keep Jack safe, at least for the moment. The truth was, she highly doubted Jack would be free of that man but she was able to buy him time and that was enough for her.

Without thinking, she reached her hand into her belt for the green stone, only to find it gone. She smiled. Jack still had it. The thought of him made her eyes tear up. If only she had known that this would be her way of leaving him. She would have…

What? A taunting voice in her head asked. What would you have done? You are married to someone you love and who loves you very much. Besides, Jack doesn't feel that way about you. The only thing he sees you as is a bothersome damsel in distress or maybe an object to give him pleasure just like any other woman he had been with.

Even as she thought those things she knew them not to be true. Jack was a good man and she believed that they had a bond. She could remember the day as if it was yesterday that he showed her his scars and told her the truth about his adventures in their entire splendor. He trusted her and she trusted him. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was more than an object or a prize.

Elizabeth shivered in her seat and wrapped her arms around her. She had never felt that trust for Will. Not ever. She trusted him with her life but her secrets? It was not that he could not keep them but she wasn't sure if he could accept them and that thought hurt her.

A silhouette filled the stairs as a hulking crew man came to rest at her cell bars, tray in hand. "Lord Mikan wishes you to have dinner with him."

Elizabeth eyed the tray with question. The man caught her glance. "This is for you should you refuse. You may eat in here by yourself nothing but bread and cheese."

She stood up, looking the man strait in the eye. "Tell Mikan that I will dine alone."

The man shrugged and opened the cell door to slide the tray in. The thought crossed Elizabeth's mind to run but then, where would she go to? She was trapped. Perhaps it would be better to dine with the slime to get her bearings so she could tell where they were and where they were heading. "Actually, I think I would like to get to know my future husband."

The large man smiled and offered his arm. "Mikan will be very pleased."

Elizabeth stifled a bitter laugh. Let him be pleased, for now…

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Jack smiled to himself as he lifted the green bead into the light of the afternoon. The crew had put in at Tortuga two days after the storm. The trip had been rough, the ship a bit battered from the ordeal.

He twisted the little thing in his hand, very pleased with himself. In the day that they had been in Tortuga and the two days it took to get there, Jack had been busily carving away and the green stone. It was really quite soft as far as rocks go. After time and a bit of help from an old friend in Tortuga, he had fashioned Elizabeth's stone into a beautiful bead for her hair.

Black sails on the sea caught his eye and he stood up off of the piece of driftwood he was perched on. A smirk graced his lips. "Ah, the Black Pearl," he whispered to himself, captivated as always by her grace and presence. "Beautiful as always and right on time."


	13. Chapter 13

Ch 13

"Barbossa! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Barbossa glared at Jack, ignoring his outstretched hand. The old pirate was fearsome looking to say the least and much of his past and tactics could back up the image. The scraggily beard on his chin went well with his wild hair and battle worn face. The large hat atop his head shadowed the sun from his eyes and added to the angry look.

Suddenly, Barbossa broke out into a fit of maniacal laughter. Jack smiled and laughed along, eyes darting to his left and right, unaware of what the pirate before him could find so funny. The rest of the crew was coming off the Pearl. Two crewmen were looking rather sheepish. Jack broke off in his laughter to glare at the two by the names of Pintel and Ragetti. They were part of Jack's crew not long ago. It looked like they had decided to betray Jack again. They slid behind Barbossa at Jack's hard stare.

Finally, Barbossa spoke. "I don't know why I expected any less from you Jack."

Jack lifted a finger to his mouth in mock contemplation. "Hmm. Whatever could you mean?"

Barbossa leaned in closer to Jack. Jack leaned away from him. "Where be the chart?"

"Ah… a chart?" Jack jumped back as Barbossa straitened himself up and moved to take a step toward him. "One would think that a pirate who was… clever, enough to steal ones ship would have also taken the utmost care and consideration in making sure they had acquired the correct directional devices to take them to the treasure that they had stolen said ship in order to sail to. Unless the fore mentioned man was not as clever as he thought? "

Barbossa dropped his attempted friendly face and rage filled his eyes. "I want that chart Jack."

"And you expect me to hand it over?" Jack shook his finger dangerously close to Barbossa's face and made a disappointed noise. "You should know me better than that Hector."

As soon as it had disappeared it was there again. A smile appeared on Barbossa's face, revealing many rotten, discolored teeth. "So what is it then? Are we to be sailing the seas together again, side by side, locked in a constant, never-ending battle of you trying and failing to best me and become captain?"

By now, the whole of Jack's crew had come out of the local bars and whatever other pleasurable company they had been with to circle behind Jack. Each was eager to be rid of Mikan's ship because being rid of Mikan's ship meant less of a chance the man could track them. Gaining the Pearl meant more speed and a familiar deck beneath their feet.

This time, Jack leaned in toward Barbossa. "No. This time around, I plan to be the one at the helm, steering her the whole way to the treasure." He waved his hands at the surrounding area. "While you can be content sitting here in Tortuga and awaiting my return, praying that I give you a share of the treasure that you do not deserve."

Barbossa's smile faltered, just for a moment. "Perhaps we can be findi'n some sort of agreement."

Jack smiled. "I thought you may be seeing it my way. Follow me."

As Jack sauntered off in his unusual way, Barbossa glared at his retreating back. Ragetti made an anxious sound behind him. Pintel hit him in the side to signal he should stay quiet. The one eyed pirate didn't get the hint. "Sir, shouldn't we, I don't know, follow him?" Pintel mouthed "fool" before cowering in his place.

Barbossa glanced at him over his shoulder at them. "Aye, follow, but not for long. If Jack be thinking that he is gonna be the one to captain the ship then he best have a good plan up his sleeve."

Ragetti nodded and shot a triumphant look at Pintel. Pintel punched him in the arm as he mumbled "Lucky is all it is. Just dumb luck." As Barbossa started away from them to follow Jack, Pintel raised his voice. "You know captain Barbossa doesn't do well with anyone telling 'em what to do. Watch yourself stupid or you lose your other eye."

Ragetti looked startled and reached up to touch his good eye. He swallowed and ran to catch up with Pintel.

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"So this is how it's gonna be. We all board the Pearl, with me as captain of course; sail our way to the Fountain of Youth with the much needed help of my charts that will be read by my very own eyes and locked in my very own captain's cabin. Savvy?" Jack tilted back in his chair, feet propped comfortably on the table of the bar. The mud caked on the bottom of his boots cracked and fell into a neat pile next to Barbossa's rum cup.

"And I am to understand that I sit along for the ride with no say whatsoever?"asked Barbossa, staring angrily at the dirt.

"Yes. You ride along with no say whatsoever due to the fact that you caused mutiny on my ship once before, tried to kill me more than once and stole my ship more than once."

"Then tell me Jack…" Barbossa reached a hand out to brush the dirt off the table. "Where in this whole harebrained plan is there anything in it for me?"

Jack smirked, exposing one of his gold teeth. "You may get a share of the treasure."

A woman walked over to him, mistaking the smile as an invitation. He looked up at her, startled at the hand she laid on the back of his neck, and shook his head. "No thank you darli'n. Not for me. Perhaps my friend here will buy your company after our little conversation. He may need some comfort."

The lady giggled, despite the disappointment in her eyes, and walked away. Barbossa took note of this interaction. Since when did Jack offer such a thing to anyone, denying himself the pleasure? Anything he could use for the upper hand he would take. "That leaves a large question in the plan as to whether or not I gain anything at all out of this. But I wonder, Jack…"

Jack didn't like the way Barbossa's voice turned light. He knew that he was about to try and turn the tables on him. He took a swig of rum to hide his discomfort, although he had no idea what Barbossa could possibly have on him at this point.

"Where is that girl… Miss. Swann, was it? No. It wasn't Miss. Swann. Or was it and something changed?" Jack knew where this was going and he didn't like it one bit. Still, he kept his relaxed and in control pose. "Ah! That's it. She married that boy William Turner in the heat of battle and is now Mrs. Turner!"

Jack couldn't keep the growl out of his voice as he ignored where Barbossa was trying to lead him. "There is no reason for you to wonder anything because whether or not you even get to come along is yet to be seen and determined by me."

Barbossa didn't take the lead. "Didn't you care for the girl a little bit? Spend some time with her, saved her life a few times? I wonder why, then, she was out sailing in the company of the Sea Lass, under the British flag and Lord Mikan's control?"

"She tried to kill me, successfully I may add. So why would I treat her any different than you mate?" Jack couldn't help the curious edge to his voice as he spoke again. "Where exactly did you see her on a British ship?"

Barbossa leaned back in his own chair, looking quite satisfied. "Well Jack, I don't quite recall. Perhaps a guarantee that I will have a peek at the charts and a promise that I may share in the treasure should we find it would jog my memory, eh?"

Jack narrowed his eyes. Barbossa could never make things easy. Just when he thought he had the upper hand, Barbossa seemed to have something else up his dirty sleeve. At least he was not demanding captaincy. He grasped at one last straw, leaning toward Barbossa. "What makes you think I give a hoot where dear Mr. Turner's murderous bride is?"

Barbossa leaned forward as well, meeting Jack halfway. "Maybe because, if we have her with us, you can bargain your way out of death one more time when the Dutchman comes for you? Or maybe because I know you have a weakness for the female kind, as damning as they are when on ones ship and I will do whatever it takes to up my position on this voyage." He ended with a big smile.

So not everyone on the whole bloody planet knows how I feel when I am not even sure. That's comforting, he grumbled to himself. He offered his hand across the table. Barbossa grasped it. "We have an accord."

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Elizabeth stepped into the Sea Lass's mess. There was a large table piled with food. The dim lighting and red cloth hanging off the walls made her stomach lurch. It was very much like the first time she ran into Barbossa. He had wanted her to eat with him too. Just the thought made her glance nervously at her man escort. Sure, he was human now but what about when he stepped into the moonlight? She scolded herself. That curse had been laid to rest when all the Aztec gold was returned. Besides, she told herself, I have been through so much worse and have grown since then. That all seems like child's play now.

Mikan turned from the small port hole he was looking out. She chuckled softly, a sour sound. Give me skeletal monsters any day over this fate, she thought.

"I am glad you chose to join me." He stalked over to her. Chains rattled in his hand. She took a step back at the sound. "I decided that you should be free of the cage down below should you choose it. The sad fact is," She took another step back and was held fast by the man that had escorted her. "a wild bird cannot be trusted to roam free. For surely it will choose the stubborn call of the outside over its master." Mikan clamped the cold iron clasp around her neck.

Elizabeth was shocked at the metal. She thought that maybe she could be bound by her wrists but her neck? It was attached to a chain that Mikan now held in his hand. The sight made Elizabeth sick. The whole scene was twisted. Was she to be some sort of pet to him now? And upon coming up on deck she had noticed that they were not headed toward Port Royal at all but the opposite way. She glared at him, hatred and disgust overshadowing the question in her eyes. Mikan just smiled at her and motioned to the table. "Come. Sit. Let us eat."

Elizabeth could keep silent no longer. "What game are you playing now Mikan?" She stepped toward him and stood before the chair he indicated. "What is all this about?"

Mikan pretended innocence. "Now what may you be speaking of? The chain about your neck? The direction we are headed? The reason I left that dirty but very valuable Jack Sparrow?" Elizabeth just kept her eyes trained on him. He laughed. "All of the above I imagine. Why don't you have a seat and we can discuss."

"No. I want to know now."

Mikan jerked the chain, pulling her toward him. The escort snickered and saluted, walking out of the room. Elizabeth struggled to free a hand, wanting more than anything to just pound the man holding her to a pulp. "Let go," she snarled.

Mikan leaned in toward her ear. "This is the way it's going to go. You are coming with me bound by this chain to the Fountain of Youth."

"You don't know where it is," she spat.

"Ah. Now you are catching on. We are going to lie in wait until Jack comes." He leaned back to get a look at her face. "I assume he is after the same thing." Elizabeth averted her eyes. He took that as a yes. "I want to live forever and this Fountain of Youth is the key."

"So you expect me to just be a happy little wife, sitting by your side through this all while you trap Jack?" She tried to burn a hole through his face with her stare.

"Why, yes. Except there is a catch. If you want to act like a little pirate you will have to be broken of that habit. I have some tactics that could prove all too useful."

Elizabeth shuttered as she recalled him whipping Jack. "I would never be welcomed back into Port Royal society after all this, your word or not."

Mikan smiled a cruel and conniving look. "That is why we won't be returning. How would immortality be used there?"

"You are twisted," she spat. He only smiled. "How did a man like you ever come to have such a high place in Port Royal under the king?"

Mikan shrugged. "People are all too easy to manipulate. I sail into the port one day, send to be a solider under the king and voila. No questions asked. Then all that's left is to prove myself. This has become so much bigger than a place in rank. This is about living forever. Taking what you can and giving nothing back."

Elizabeth couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips at the familiar term. It had been mumbled about the ship when she sailed with Jack. An old pirate phrase it was. And Mikan was uttering the very same words.

Elizabeth shivered. She felt more helpless than she had since she had escaped the life of a high society girl in Port Royal. Somehow she knew that Mikan was not all he claimed to be. His ways were too cruel and his methods too twisted. She was a tool in leading Jack to his doom. Even when she tried to save him, she doomed him. He was sailing right into a trap and there was nothing she could do to warn him.

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Jack smiled openly. This was all going according to plan. He ran his hands over the wood of his ship as the waves rushed by beneath them. He was back in control of the Pearl and all was right in the world. Well, all should have been right with the world. The problem was, it wasn't. The thing that used to make everything all right, the practical meaning to his life now was only a slight comfort and hope inducing object. Elizabeth was who was on his mind, the thought of her with Mikan was torturing him. He knew that she didn't leave because she wanted to. She had told him her fear of the man and the bad feelings that she got when he was around.

Jack glanced over at Barbossa and sighed. Yes, the things Elizabeth had done to him. He had the man he absolutely despised aboard his ship because he had a small bit of information on where he might find Elizabeth. The trip would be horrible, he never doubted that. What he couldn't decide was whether it was because Barbossa was aboard or that she was not.

He glanced down at his compass and turned the wheel slightly. Barbossa had said that he had a run into Mikan's ship about three days or so away from Tortuga near the island town of Hawa. The compass pointed straight and true in one direction; Elizabeth. He didn't doubt that he could have found her without Barbossa's help. But he would first drown than tell Barbossa that she was what he wanted most in the world by using his compass to find her.

He snapped the compass shut as Barbossa approached him, a cocky grin on his face. "Well Jack, since you have been such a good lad I think I could be tellin'n you one more little piece of information about Mikan." Jack kept his eyes trained ahead, seeming uninterested. "Have you ever heard of the pirate Bloody Shane?"

Jack locked his eyes on Barbossa, keeping the interest out of his voice. "Aye."

"Well, it seems he was lost to his crew one day in the heat of battle…"

"He disappeared when fighting against that band o pirates on Asian waters," Jack interrupted much to Barbossa's dismay. "None of this is news."

Barbossa seemed to think differently. "One day a new face strolls into Port Royal looking for a place in society, a place of power. The man sails in with a ragtag looking group of men, sea battered and bruised." Jack returned his eyes to the water in front of him, refusing to show Barbossa his interest. "No one had seen Bloody Shane after that battle long ago so he and his crew were assumed dead. But they weren't."

Jack rolled his eyes. "So what your implying is that somehow Bloody Shane is Mikan, now a Lord in Port Royal, sailing under the crown?" Barbossa just smiled, seeming impressed that a man who claimed it to be folly could catch on so quickly to his point. Jack snorted. "You need to find yourself something to do mate."

"Think about it!" Barbossa snarled, making Jack lean away from him a bit. "Has anyone in these waters ever had a run in with this Bloody Shane? Would anyone know of him except the feared tales whispered about him? What better place to recuperate after a huge loss in battle than in the waters where no one knows you."

Jack straitened himself up, smoothing down his coat and shaking his head. "I think that Gibbs needs help swabbing the deck so if you please?" When Barbossa didn't move, he made a dismissing wave in the direction of the deck. Glowering, Barbossa turned. Jack didn't watch to see that he went to swab. His mind was whirling.

He had heard the tales of Bloody Shane. It would be no difficult task to worm ones way into Port Royal. He had done it before himself quite successfully. It was painfully true that no one knew what he looked like or anything beyond the tales. Horrible the tales were. One of the tales was that he died, disappeared and was no longer a threat. The man was bloodthirsty and ruthless. He was the very picture of a pirate but with no honor or respect for the code. That made him a dangerous and marked man. Every pirate wanted him gone for his disrespect for the code was not to be tolerated. But his tactics were cruel and merciless. He was known for raping women and killing children. Most of his technique was in the endless mind and body torture he used on his victims. Not one pirate who ran into him was left successful or alive. Only a few had escaped to whisper the tales about the sea.

Jack was glad Barbossa was gone because he was sure he was pale as death. The wheel under his hand started to slip under his sweaty hand. He felt sick. Elizabeth was with that man. She was aboard the ship of a madman pirate who had stalked her all through his time at Port Royal with his plans and now had her in his grasp. There was no telling what he would do to her. Elizabeth was blissfully unaware. He had a terrible feeling she wouldn't be for long.


	14. Chapter 14

Ch 14

Jack stared ahead at the chest lying on the floor before him. A dull thump-thump came from within the cold green chest. That could have been your heart mate, he thought to himself. Then none of this would have happened. I could be living forever, sailing the seas and never having to fear death because I myself would be the one death reported to. He pondered the thought a moment, weighing the pros and cons as he often had on the return trip from Davey's Locker. It's not like you even have a choice now mate. You had Will stab the heart. He scowled at the chest. I am a bloody fool.

He thought back to the moment he held the heart in his hands. He was so close to victory. He held immortality in his hand. But then Jones stabbed Will, right through the heart. It had stopped him cold. It wasn't so much Will. The two had never really trusted one another and when he thought back, they had never said goodbye to one another. He would have liked a thank you for saving the eunuch's life. While the two had their differences and disagreements, they did work well as a team when it came down to it. It turned out he had taught the whelp well in the ways of piracy. He had become the very thing he claimed to hate.

What really made the decision for him that cold night was the look on Elizabeth's face as she held on to Will, crying out his name. She loved him. That Jack never doubted that for a moment. That was why he saw no other alternative. She was in so much pain; had been through the whole trip. She had already lost two men she loved and the pain on her face was enough to tear him up inside. Not Will too. He decided that if there was any way to keep the pain away from her, any way to comfort and help her, he would do it.

That's when it all started you bloody fool, a voice said. In that moment you knew that there was more there. Who has heard of a pirate who gives up their treasure for the happiness of another? With one look from her face, one gleam in her eyes makes you come undone. It's not your place to please her, to comfort her. Will can do that bloody fine.

Jack stood over the chest and addressed it directly. "But then you can't can you? You are doomed to sail the seas forever. That's what it really is. A curse." For the first time since he had stabbed the heart, guilt washed over him. The same thought came into his head only this time accompanied by, not regret, but relief. That could have been him. Doomed to sail the seas apart from the one he loved.

"There's that bloody word again." He paced the room in thought. "I love the sea, the Pearl, freedom. The ocean is the only love for me. But when another loves the sea are the two not bound by some love in of itself?" Jack growled. "This is all maddening thoughts. I need to stop thoughts all together."

I will go get Elizabeth back from that Bloody Shane, if that really is who Mikan is, and send her back to her little Dugs Island. She doesn't want to be aboard with me anyway. Bloody women. Never know what they want. First the sea then the land.

He pushed the chest underneath the bed. "At least you can't do anything stupid to ruin my plans William. You never did listen well."

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Far away from The Black Pearl and his heart, the captain of the Flying Dutchman leaned over the railing of his ship. He had a dark bandana wrapped around his head in a way, one he would refuse to admit aloud, that was inspired by a legendary pirate. He stared down at his reflection in the water below. Captain Jack Sparrow. He never really trusted the man, or liked him to be honest. What for the fact that he had kissed the woman he loved and had a cunning mind that he was never able to keep up with.

Regardless, he had saved his life. Or had he? Was it just another step in one of his elaborate schemes to get what he wanted? Thoughts of the kind plagued his mind as he carried out his duties of ferrying the dead to the 'other side.'

A man came and stood beside the captain. "What's on your mind William?"

Will turned to face the man beside him with a smile. Yes. His father. He had done all he had for his father. The reward was well worth it, he admitted. Just a day with his father would have been reward enough for all the years he went without. But he had wondered what that meant about Elizabeth and himself. His father so easily became his top priority. Now he was free to sail the seas with him for all eternity.

"I was just thinking about all of this."

'Bootstrap' Bill Turner looked at his son thoughtfully. "I bet that pretty Elizabeth girl is on your mind a lot."

Will smiled grimly. She was. All the time. He missed her terribly and the fact that he could not watch over her himself saddened him. But another thought had scared him. He voiced his thoughts to his father.

"When I started this… job, I didn't know how I would ever do it. To be without Elizabeth would surely tear me apart. But as time went on I… it is like it has become less difficult but I still… I don't know…" He stopped, not sure how to put into words his feelings.

Bill helped him out. "You still love her?"

"With all my heart," Will stated fiercely. He returned his gaze to the water. "But then again, my heart is not mine to give anymore. It belongs to the souls that die at sea. I fear I cannot protect her. Rather I left her to protect me, protect my heart."

Bill just listened, deep in thought. There was silence for a moment before Bill spoke. "You will always love her with part of yourself. But the tides have changed and so have you." He dared another look at his son. "So has she."

Will turned to face his father. He opened his mouth to speak but held back. She had changed so much from when he first fell in love with her. She had become so independent, gained a love for the sea. She had become very skilled with the sword and not only held it as a means to protect herself but as a source of joy. There was a sparkle in her eyes when he taught her how to wield it, how to swing and block. There was a passion there that very much mirrored the look in her eyes when she was at sea.

"I knew I was losing her when she found me after I escaped Davey Jones. But perhaps it was me who did it. I was so obsessed with saving you that somehow, somewhere in the whole twisted situation, she was not top priority." The thoughts made him neither happy nor sad. Little emotion was able to be felt with his heart so far away from his body. But unlike Jones, he could still feel traces of it within him. "I don't regret my decision."

Bill nodded. He chose his words carefully as he spoke the next sentence. "I had noticed quite a change in my old friend as well."

Will looked into his father's eyes intently. He wanted to see exactly where his father was going with this. He had noticed a change in someone in particular as well. "Old friend? As in Jack Sparrow?"

Bill nodded, a grin coming to his lips. "A scoundrel he always was and a good pirate."

Will snorted. "Yes, a good pirate. He always was very good at stealing things." Thoughts of the kiss he witnessed between Elizabeth and Jack flashed through his mind.

"He is also a good man. He was the reason I died. I never agreed to the mutiny that Barbossa wanted for Jack. He was a fair captain and deserved the place he had." He looked away from Will now. This was dangerous territory he was treading on. "I noticed in the little time I spent with him before that his… priorities seem to have changed."

Will stared hard at his father. He had noticed that Jack seemed different too but he wanted to hear what his father was implying.

"Your Elizabeth,"

"My wife," Will reminded him.

Bill smiled. "Yes. Your wife Elizabeth. He always seemed to have a sort of, soft spot for her."

Will shrugged. "I guess that became apparent to me when I saw him kissing her. Or she was kissing him. Perhaps the feeling is mutual."

Bill winced a bit. He had a feeling from what he had witnessed that the feeling was very mutual. He kept that thought to himself as he continued. "You worry yourself about who will protect her, about the fact that you cannot be there for her but one day every ten years."

"And it kills me," he said, voice breaking. "I love her. I always will."

"I don't think you have to worry. Many people care about her. One of them is Jack. He is a good man. He will watch out for her in your absence I am sure."

"That is what I am afraid of," Will snarled, pushing away from his father.

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Jack stood at the head of the ship, eyes scanning the island before him through his spyglass. The chart was right. So was his compass. This was Hawa. He could see the few people that inhabited the island scurrying about through their little town. To the right, docked at one of the few places to do so was the Sea Lass.

Jack pushed closed the spyglass. He squinted his eyes at the ship. So they had caught up. Barbossa had been good on his word. Right on cue, the old pirate stepped up beside him. "So what's your plan now Jack?" His voice held a sneer. "We are pirates. We have no need to stop here. We are on course for the Fountain of Youth. Immortality waits."

Jack's mind worked quickly. Barbossa knew what they were there for. He knew it all too well. No need to confirm that fact. "Provisions. Curiosity. Both need to be satisfied before we continue on with this trip." He pushed past Barbossa who, to his frustration, followed close behind.

"So you do have an inkling as to who Mikan may truly be, aye? But I wonder what happened to your favorite method of running away?"

Jack left that question unanswered as he stepped out onto the dock. "Gibbs, get whatever provisions we may need. Powder, shots, a replacement for that lantern Ragetti smashed last night."

"Aye captain." Gibbs glanced back at Barbossa who was currently observing the island before him. "Where are you going?"

"To get a look around." He turned to face his first mate. He dropped his voice to a whisper. "Keep everyone at the bar…"

"Do ye know that this spit of a town has a bar?" Gibbs interrupted.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Yes Gibbs. What seaport town wouldn't?"

Gibbs shivered. "I have a bad feeling about all of this Jack."

"All the more reason to get Elizabeth," he whispered even quieter as he turned away. "Oh, and Mr. Gibbs. Make sure my cabin is locked tight. Protect that key with your life. We wouldn't want the thump- thump to fall into the wrong hands." With that he walked away.

The people in town gave him nothing more than a glance. They were used to strange sights like him coming off of ships. He stopped one man to question him. "That ship. Have you seen its captain's whereabouts?"

The man nodded. "Word about this town is that he is the feared Bloody Shane. He was well dressed and respectable seeming enough. He and some crew members went into the woods they did. There is an old fortress back there, abandoned after a long many years of neglect. It seems that there is a prisoner among them."

Jack shifted his weight. This man knew a lot of information. "What did this, prisoner, look like?"

"That was what started the rumors so fiercely that he be the murderous Bloody Shane. It was a woman, bound by her neck in chains. She had bruises on 'er face and her clothes lay it tatters."

Jack cursed under his breath. An unspeakable fear unlike any he had ever experienced clutched at his heart. A sense of relief descended as well. He knew that Elizabeth was alive. That much he was not even sure he would find to be true.

With a nod of thanks and a shilling to ensure silence about their chat, Jack headed toward the woods. He was here for one purpose and one purpose only; to get Elizabeth back to safety whether she wanted it or not. Mikan or Bloody Shane or whoever the devil the man was would pay but later. Now was all about getting Elizabeth back as quickly and as silently as possible.

This has to be a trap, he was sure. And he was almost sure that this 'Mikan' was Bloody Shane. So why then, lead him into a trap? He surely didn't expect to be able to collect a reward from Port Royal for returning. It had to be the Fountain of Youth.

Jack froze. That was what he wanted and he was the one with the charts, the only one. His old instincts started to take over. The need to flee was almost overwhelming. The sound of distant taunting and jeering brought his mind back to the importance of the task at hand right away. Elizabeth. Wasn't she always the reason for his hesitation?

He crouched down and crept closer to the sounds. He vanished under the noses of a whole fleet of soldiers, successfully invaded a port without firing a shot so surely this would be easy enough. Get your best storytellers ready, Jack thought grimly, because Jack Sparrow is about to make history again. He peered over a bush and was greeted by the sight of at least ten guards, all standing in front of a building that lay in ruins. This time they would tell of a pirate who crept into an old fortress and sailed away with the beauty captive within without ever being detected.

He took a deep breath and moved. He saw what he needed to get the job done. Hopefully it would be enough. He never was very good at climbing trees.


	15. Chapter 15

Ch 15

Mikan pushed Elizabeth to the ground roughly. The bruises on her legs ached in protest to the harsh movement. "Now you can wait here for Jack while I go prepare to sail." Elizabeth stared up at him, her eyes cold and defiant. "Do not look at me in such a way my little slave. It is that very look that earned you all of the wounds you have now."

Elizabeth spoke, her voice matching the cold in her eyes. "Jack won't come. He is smart. He will not risk imprisonment or worse from the likes of you just for me. He knows I left on my own accord. Although if I knew that it would be to such a madman then perhaps I would have just jumped overboard."

Mikan just chuckled as he walked away. She stared in hatred at his retreating back. Yes, if only she had known that this would be her fate. She would have given up her luck to the sea. Now she had no way of escape. The chain around her neck made movement painful. The area around it was swollen and red from discomfort.

She glanced around at her surroundings. The stone around her hardly served its original purpose anymore. It crumbled and left large holes around her. Through the holes she could spot the many men left to guard her. She didn't even know where she would go if she was free. He had her trapped. It seemed he was all too good at trapping people.

She glanced up as a drop of water hit her head. There was no roof anymore. It had long since crumbled away, leaving her open to the elements.

She crawled over to the place in the wall where her chain had been secured. A guard noticed her and stepped inside. "You're a pretty little thing you are. I am sure that we will all get a turn with you before the night is through." This brought a chorus of laughter and jeering from the rest of the ten guarding her.

She turned away from him. She always felt utterly helpless among these men. She desperately searched for a way of escape. There had to be some way to free herself of the chains around her neck.

The rain started to pour down, reflecting her awful mood and despair. It had her drenched within moments but she welcomed the discomfort. It made her aches and pains seem less. If Jack really came for her it would be a miracle to get out alive. Then there was the problem of Mikan following Jack when they tried to sail away.

No, she decided. There are too many problems and risks to him trying to rescue me.

Her heart leapt into her throat when she heard a rustle in the surrounding trees. The men guarding her stirred toward the sound. She strained to hear what it was. She heard a scratchy voice, taunting, call out "I am Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy?"

All of the men cocked their guns at once and ran into the woods. All but one man, the same who had jeered at her moments ago. He stood at the opening of the old fortress, head turning left and right to see in the rain.

She jumped when she heard the shot of a gun. Her heart lurched even more at the sound and what it meant. Someone was shooting at Jack.

That was why she was so surprised when Captain Jack Sparrow himself dropped down awkwardly right before her eyes. She held back a scream of surprise, just barely, before jumping to her feet.

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Jack landed roughly from the tree that had grown over the fortress opening. He spotted Elizabeth immediately to his left. She was chained to the wall but jumped to her feet as soon as she spotted him. A sudden urge overwhelmed him, a feeling of desperation came over his being and he felt himself running to her, meeting her half way.

"Jack!" Her eyes were filled with hope and fear. "This is a trap. You can't be here. I was so worried! I thought they already shot you." She glanced down the length of him, full of disbelief. When she met his eyes again, they were filed with passion, filled with caring.

"They already did shoot me love, back on the ship the first time but you fixed me up. Though the climb may have irritated it just a touch." He rolled his shoulder and winced slightly.

She seemed to have not heard. "I didn't think you would have come back," she admitted. He took a step toward her as his eyes wandered all over her face in wonder and fear. Angry purple bruises adorned her face. The spot around the chain on her neck was an angry red. The rain plastered her hair to her face and the clothes she wore were torn and ripped. Never before had she looked more beautiful to him.

"You shouldn't have come back." Elizabeth continued, oblivious to his examination. He grabbed her arms. She continued unaware of his touch. "You will probably get killed! You…"

She was cut off when his lips came crashing down over her own, his hands gently gripping the sides of her face. There in the rain and in the center of the enemy, he kissed her. He brought his lips down to meet hers with a desperation and urgency he had never known. He kissed her passionately, with fear, with desire, with relief, with love. All of the things he found he couldn't say.

He was gentle, surprised at his own actions while at the same time wondering how he held back so long. He knew that this was forbidden somewhere in the back of his mind. He knew that this would be trouble. He found that he didn't care. All that mattered was this moment because no matter what happened after this, no matter what his fate was with whoever he may have to answer to, he for sure had now, one opportune and guaranteed sliver of time to let her know how much she meant to him.

Elizabeth didn't hesitate for a moment. She stepped into him, placing her own hands over his on her face and kissing him back, answering his unspoken admission with one of her own, one filled with withheld passion and desire matching his.

Overcome by the moment and the immense emotions he was feeling, he pulled his lips from hers to plant soft kisses all over her face, wishing that his lips could remove each bruise and the pain that they caused. She shivered under the brush of his lips on her face.

His breath was ragged and his eyes closed as he brought his forehead to rest against her own. "Elizabeth, don't ever think that you are worth anything less but dying for."

He opened his eyes and was met with her light brown ones. It was a beautiful experience, being so close to one another, looking so closely into one another's eyes as the rain poured down around them, her eyes shining with wonder. They brimmed with tears as she closed her long lashes over them.

"That is the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me," she whispered, reaching a hand up to the side of his face. He leaned into her touch, warmth rushing through him despite the icy rain that pelted them.

Elizabeth felt that her heart might break with the sweetness of Jack's conviction. Never had such honesty shone in Jack's eyes and never before had her heart been stirred in such a way. Having abandoned all thought other than him long ago, she reached a hand around his neck and brought his lips back down to hers, finding that the only way to express the way he made her feel. She laid her free hand over his heart, feeling it beat in time with her own.

Jack felt a rush of pleasure so immense he wasn't sure he could contain it when her lips found his again. His hand found its way into her hair and buried itself there, tracing soothing patterns on her scalp. His other hand traced along her jaw line, following the curve until it met with her neck. He brushed her hair away to run his fingers down her throat. When he came to the metal clasp, he stiffened.

Reluctantly, he pulled his lips from hers. Oh yes. There was more going on here, wasn't there. It seemed that chains and confinement was always involved. He removed his other hand from her wet hair. She looked up at him with awe and trust as he fingered the metal around her neck. Neither said a word as he pulled out the keys from before, Mikan's keys, and inserted one in the hole on the clasp. The iron fell to the floor with a clank.

"Sorry I didn't think to free you sooner, love. I was a bit distracted." His words were playful but his voice was soft and hoarse with emotion. He leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her sore skin. She moaned a bit at the contact.

The guard outside hollered, making both Jack and Elizabeth jump. It seemed the rest of his troop was taking too long for his tastes. The unwelcome reality came crashing down around them once again. "How are we going to get out of this?" Elizabeth asked, her voice still breathless.

Jack tore his eyes from her face with difficulty to look around. What had just happened held questions and promise. He had just kissed her with more feeling than he had ever expressed to anyone in his entire life. The thing that blew his mind was that she kissed him back.

Nothing could be answered or further pursued, he realized, until he saved them. He peered up at the tree he had dropped in off of. They couldn't use that. "Is there some sort of back way, I wonder?" He started forward, thinking aloud. He heard Elizabeth starting to stumble behind him and he was at her side immediately, steadying her with his hand. He looked at her with concern. Just how much damage had Mikan done?

Voices outside alerted them that everyone was returning. "Stupid thing. It was just a bird. Some large parrot of some kind."

Elizabeth stifled a giggle. Jack couldn't help a small smile. So Cotton's parrot was worth something after all.

"Did you shoot it?" asked another.

Jack felt Elizabeth gasp, holding her breath. "No, the dumb thing escaped."

Jack and Elizabeth sighed with relief as they continued their way back into the old fortress. He knew from experience that there were always back exit in these fortresses. As run down as this one was not if there was a back exit. Rather, the question was if it was usable or just covered in a wall of dismantled rocks.

The two scrambled over a pile of rocks and found what they were seeking. Rain blew in from an opening directly ahead. With any luck, the guards would have still been caught in conversation up front leaving the back and their escape wide open.

Just as Jack had hoped, the opening was clear. He waved Elizabeth forward to signal the way was clear. She stumbled yet again and he found he had to wrap an arm around her waist to steady her. The two wasted no time in disappearing into the woods. The going was rough in the rain, the water making every step perilous and slippery. What made it harder was the loop they were forced to make, keeping as far away from the old fortress as possible and doubling the time it took to reach the town again.

Elizabeth was shivering uncontrollably under Jack's arm by the time they stumbled out onto the dirt path of the town. The rain was pouring down so hard and thick that visibility was dangerously limited. He peeled off his coat and slung it around Elizabeth's shoulders. She glanced up, appreciation etched on her face. "The rest of the crew is just ahead. I will have you out of here in no time."

Jack moved to step forward until the cold barrel of a gun came to rest on his neck.


	16. Chapter 16

Ch 16

Jack froze as he heard the accompanying, unmistakable click of a hammer to a gun being cocked. The barrel of the gun pressed harder against the base of his skull. "Nice to see you again Jack."

Elizabeth gasped as she turned to face his aggressor. Jack knew without looking that it was Mikan. He would recognize that taunting voice anywhere. "Where are the charts to the Fountain of Youth?" he asked, his voice more of a demand.

Jack turned his head slightly as if to face him. "Charts? What makes you think that I have 'em… Bloody Shane?"

Jack knew he had made a dangerous move, giving away Mikan's real identity out in the open. Shane, previously known as Mikan, stiffened behind him. The pressure on Jack's neck lessened just a bit but not the threat of death. "How do you know who I am? You, a pirate of the Caribbean seas?"

Jack took a stab, hoping his luck was as good as it had ever been. "A great legend like yourself is hard for another legendary pirate to miss, even with your brilliantly executed disguise."

Shane chuckled behind him. He was obviously a fan of flattery, as Jack had hoped he would be. With a shove, he pushed Jack away. Jack turned to face him, chuckling right along, even as his hand recovered the pistol at his belt and trained it on Shane's chest. Shane stopped short in his laughter and gave Jack a quizzical look. "Where did you get the pistol Jack? And that cutlass? I still have yours aboard my should from your last visit."

Jack smiled, his eyes cold and deadly. "Are you sure mate? Are you really sure? A good pirate can steal whatever the circumstance he is thrown into, even if that which he is stealing is simply the obtaining of that object that was formerly his to begin with."

Shane tilted his head to the side, considering this. "That he can. I see you have successfully stolen that which is rightly mine."

Elizabeth had moved behind Jack. He felt her grab a hold of the sword at his belt and remove it from its sheath with a swish. "I belong to no one," she growled.

Jack realized what she was trying to do. She wanted in on the action as she always did. Two against one increased their chances of survival. It was clever, daft like his own plans if only it wasn't her putting her life on the line. He knew there was no stopping her now. She had been through so much and it was high time she had a little revenge. He kept his pistol trained on Shane and silently prayed to God that he could protect her should anything happen. He wanted her to have her chance at the man who had hurt her.

"You used me to get Jack here. You wormed your way into Port Royal. You shamed the name of my dead father. You shamelessly pillage and go against the code set by the Brethren court." She stopped short of him, the tip of the sword coming to rest at the base of his throat. "You realize that I am the pirate King."

Shane stared her down, taking his pistol off of Jack to level it with her head. "And you realize that I have no further use for you nor my position as 'Lord' in Port Royal. A man with nothing left to hide is a dangerous man indeed." His meaning could not have been more clear. He was ready and willing to kill Elizabeth.

Jack cocked his gun. This was getting too dicey for his tastes. Too dicey indeed. That line was crossed when Elizabeth was sailing within the same sea as this man.

Elizabeth's voice was taunting now. "What happened to wanting to marry me? You, scum and filth of the seas. You did well, acting all proper and decent. I saw right through you all along though. I could tell you were twisted. Once a monster, always a monster. You couldn't hide that behind fancy words and gentleman's clothes."

Shane's lip twitched in annoyance. "You served your purpose. I knew you had ties to pirates on the Caribbean sea and so I tried to wed you. What better way to ensure you stay in my sight? But now that I have the only man who matters right here in my sights, the man who has the charts to immortality, I need you no more. You can thank your God that I am doing away with you now rather than the treatment many others have endured."

Elizabeth was troubled as she always was by the mention of immortality. Shane had so often brought it up while she was captured by him. What was this Fountain of Youth? She tucked her questions away to ask Jack later since he, apparently, had some charts to lead there. "And you can thank God that I have been without a sword for as long as I have. Now you will pay for what you have done." With that, she slashed at Shane, missing his throat by inches. She swung around again, thrusting her blade, successfully this time, into his side.

Shane didn't make a noise. He didn't even seem to register the blade embedded in his flesh. He simply pulled it out and threw it at his side. With a horrible grin, he reamed his gun at Elizabeth's head.

Jack saw what he feared and was ready. A muscle in Shane's hand moved, a slight twitch, and he knew that he was about to fire. Jack was quicker. He had to be. He wasn't about to lose Elizabeth again, lose her forever. He squeezed his own trigger.

A loud shot rang through the downpour of rain. The scent of gunpowder filled the air. Shane stumbled back a few steps as the bullet came in contact with him, dropping his own gun and grabbing his chest with his hands. Elizabeth brought her foot up and kicked him hard in the stomach, bringing him the rest of the way down and, forgetting her sword, she jumped on top of him, wrapping both her hands around his throat.

Jack rushed over to her, stowing his gun back in his belt and trying to pull her off. "Elizabeth! Lizzie, stop!" She still had both her hands clamped around the man's neck and Jack had to use all his strength to pull her away. Shane didn't struggle at all.

The shot brought all of Jack's crew running. The towns' folk were dashing away as fast as they could with nothing more than a glance behind them. Jack hollered over his shoulder to make ready to sail as he continued to coax Elizabeth away from Shane. Although the crew hesitated, question all over their faces about the scene that was unfolding before them, they slowly turned and headed for the Pearl. All but Barbossa.

Jack pulled Elizabeth against him. "Lizzie. It's over. There is nothing more that can be done to him. Let me get you out of here."

Quite suddenly, she stopped forcing against him. He turned her around to face him. Her eyes were wide and distant and her hands trembled at her sides. He thought this may happen. Her body had endured so much trauma lately that she was going into shock. The adrenalin had taken its toll on her body and he knew that she was about to collapse. Jack slung an arm around her shoulders and started steering her toward the Pearl.

He glared up at Barbossa as he passed. "Come on then. To the Pearl unless you want to stay behind which will be undoubtedly pleasant, what with all Shane's men coming. I really don't mind."

Barbossa's eyes lit up at the conformation that he was right about Mikan. A smug look set on his face, he walked ahead of them, yelling out further instructions to ready the ship. "Fun's over you landlubbers. Run out the main sail! Step two you lousy bilge rats!"

Jack sent one last look over his shoulder at Shane. He had a bad feeling that he wasn't dead, even though he knew his bullet to have hit its mark. The fight, or rather lack thereof, was too easy, too quick and simple for a legendary, merciless pirate with his heart set on a goal, a treasure. Through the whole fight, even as Elizabeth attempted to kill him with her hands on his throat and even as a bullet lay lodged in him, a horrible smile remained on his face.

Jack shivered and returned his attention to Elizabeth. She was his top priority now.

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Elizabeth felt herself being led onto the Pearl without really acknowledging it. She could hear the sounds of orders being called but it was all so distant. All she could see was the look on Shane's face as he smiled up at her, a terrible grin of satisfaction and success even as she tried to squeeze the life out of him. All she could feel was his neck under her fingers and the uncontrollable rage to kill the man that had been beneath her.

She had tried to kill a man with her bare hands. The thought made her tremble even more. She had slain a number of men at the tip of her blade back when she was fighting for her life against Davey Jones's men. But they were not really men anymore were they? They were monsters. Shane was a man. Shane was a man that she had tried to kill. A man. A human being.

He was a monster, she told herself but that same voice came into her head.

He was a man. You tried to kill a man.

Somehow she found herself sitting on a bed. She was finally safe. That did nothing to quiet the voice in her head.

You tried to kill a man. You tried to take the life of a man.

Someone sat next to her, looking her up and down worriedly as she sat staring but not seeing.

You tried to kill a man.

A familiar voice broke into her consciousness. "Elizabeth." It was unsure but steady. That voice. She turned her head to face the source of it. She was met with his deep, dark brown eyes.

Jack. Wait… Jack. I kissed him. I kissed him and I am a married woman. I am a married woman who is going behind her husband's back and a would be murderer. But this man, Jack, he had tried to protect me, right? I can trust him? But I kissed him. I betrayed my husband.

Elizabeth's mind was a chaotic mess, a battle to which there could be no winner because it was her against herself. Jack's hand started timidly towards her, landing feather light on her shoulder. She cringed at the contact. "I almost killed a man," she whispered, voicing her thoughts numbly.

Jack smiled softly at her. As long as she was talking, they were making progress out of shock. "Aye. He deserved it the wretch. You were a regular pirate."

His voice was reaching some part inside her. All of her feelings were boiling to the surface. "I am a terrible person." Her voice started to break. "I was overcome with rage and had no thought but killing him."

"He had it coming love. He has hurt a lot of people, yourself included in that number."

Rage surfaced. "And you!" She pointed at him now, her eyes ablaze. He backed away from her a bit, his eyes full of understanding, as if he expected such a reaction. That made her more upset. "You kissed me! What's worse is that I kissed you back! You made me betray my husband! You made me betray the man I love!"

When he didn't say anything, she continued. "I had no thoughts of him when I kissed you there in the rain. You made me betray him! You let me throw away his trust in me for when he finds out he will surely call for a separation between us. A divorce! You took advantage of my weakened state! "

Jack's voice was calm this time too, despite the way her accusation stung. "Do you regret it?"

She stopped. The only sound was her heavy breathing. Did she regret it? It was the last thing she had expected him to say. She stood in quiet contemplation. After a moment her eyes began to well up until the room was a blur. She sat down heavily on the bed. Suddenly it felt as if she couldn't stand at all. "No," she choked out before she fell into a fit of sobs.

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Jack watched her put her head in her hands, listened to her sob and he felt part of him breaking. He did this. He should have known that no good would come from his loss of control in that one moment. He knew that he shouldn't have kissed her. There were too many reasons not to.

But something good had come from the whole bloody mess, hadn't it, a voice in his head asked. She kissed him back. She kissed him back with more than desperate abandon. There was something there. She felt something for him. He knew it more now than ever before. The proof was in her reaction to his simple question. Did she regret it?

No.

That was enough for him. It made it all worth it. He found he had to tell himself that over and over though as she sat crying next to him.

He stared at her for a while, not sure what to do. He looked around the room at nonexistent people, hoping that maybe someone could materialize and take care of the problem. When no one came, he looked back down at her shaking form.

Don't think so much mate, he told himself. Just do whatever feels right.

Although you did that before, another voice argued, and that is what got her into this whole bloody fit.

He reached a hand out to her back, pulling away at first at the contact, but then settled it there. He started rubbing her back softly, slowly scooting closer to whisper comforting words to her. He found that much of what he said was nonsense to him. Much of it consisted of him repeating her name over and over. But it had the desired effect. She had stiffened at his touch at first but was now completely relaxed, her tears more of sniffles than pain wracking sobs.

"You have to be exhausted Lizzie," Jack tried after a while. "First let me get a look at what Shane did to you and then you can sleep," Jack ventured slowly, hoping her anger had passed away for the moment to just exhaustion. He seemed to be right. She shot him an unsure look at his request at first but there was too much fatigue in her eyes to argue. He was surprised she was still awake.

He laid her back onto the bed, taking his coat off of her. "It would probably be best to get those wet clothes off. Where all do you hurt?"

To his surprise and delight, her red from crying eyes slightly lit up and that fiery smile played at her lips. "Do not think that you will get to see me unclothed Captain Sparrow, no matter how much I hurt."

Jack smiled a wolfish grin at her. They were back to their old games. "Why would you ever suspect me of such a thing? Besides, I find it only fair. After all, you got a peek at me chest did you not?"

She fixed him with a tired glare before a soft knock interrupted. Gibbs poked his head in at Jack's word to enter with a medical bag in his hand. "I thought you may be needing these captain."

Elizabeth turned to face Gibbs. "Actually Gibbs, would you mind taking a look at me?"

Jack looked at her curiously. She laughed softly at his expression before a wince appeared, the laughing causing her pain. Jack bet she had a broken rib. "Gibbs sailed with me when I was a young girl. Many times he helped about the ship with illness and wounds." She faced a sheepish Gibbs now. "Isn't that right Mr. Gibbs?"

He shifted uncomfortably as Jack set him with a stern look. "Aye, Miss. Elizabeth, that is true. Everyone aboard the ship when carrying the governor and his daughter had to know simple ways to be fix'n up wounds and breaks. But I am sure that the captain here could give you a good fix up himself. He has had an injury or two he has."

Jack held Gibbs's grey eyed stare. He could tell his first mate was uncomfortable. As he should be, Jack thought with grim satisfaction. But why? Elizabeth is not mine to be jealous of other men over.

With a defeated sigh he stood, putting on his coat and waving his hands over Elizabeth with a flourish. "She is all yours mate."

He walked out the door to the cabin without as much as a backward glance. Instead he searched for a place to think. Many things were on his mind. He knew just the place to go. "Ey! Take a break mate!" Jack called up to Dirk, the man in the crow's nest. He didn't argue, only gave Jack a questioning look as he dropped back down onto the deck. Dirk was a newer member of the crew and didn't know Jack's love of the crow's nest.

Jack realized, as he climbed up to his destination, that it had been far too long since he had been up there. His shoulder threatened to cramp a few times on the long climb from his healing injury but a short pause in movement and the feeling went away. The slipperiness of the wood under his hands made climbing more tedious and slow but finally he reached the top. As he pulled himself behind the protection of the railing he felt the familiar and very much missed joy seize his heart.

This was his favorite place on the ship, second to the helm. The helm gave him a feeling of power, the ship moving at his command and an entire powerhouse under his control and showed him the power of water while the crow's nest put everything into perspective for him, showing him the power in a gust of wind. Being so high above everything gave him a feeling of helplessness, showed him how large the sea really was and how small the people beneath him scurrying about the deck, the very image of himself when he returned below, really was. It was not a bad feeling, knowing he was so small. It was awe inspiring.

He breathed in the salty sea air as he had a thousand times before. The wind was stronger up above and the rain hit him harder without the sails and woodwork protecting him as it did below on deck. Being up in the air always filled him with a sense of peace. Right now, he needed a lot of peace. He watched Hawa island shrink in the distance, nothing more than a smear on the horizon.

His mind wandered back to the past day's events and he let it. Now what in the bloody world was all that about? Jack asked himself thinking back to his kiss with Elizabeth. Last time she kissed me the outcome was decidedly unpleasant to say the least. How could I have acted and not remembered it?

That thought never crossed me mind in that moment, he answered himself. All I could think about was that she was safe.

How could I so easily forget? He countered himself. Death is not a small, miniscule, erasable, debatable subject or event for anyone to endure and then forget mate.

He scowled at the conflicting thoughts. She changed him. He, who was always so sure in his actions, so confident, was changed by her, a headstrong woman who was so determined in what she did and was confident herself. In those few precious moments that he had held her in his arms he wasn't himself. He found that un-pirate like poetic disgrace flowing so freely from his mouth if only to see her smile.

And smile she did, Jack reminded himself. She did more than smile. That fact was impossible for him to forget. It would forever be engraved into his mind. Perhaps there is something to that mushy stuff, he thought.

He began to pace up in his place, taking no more than two steps forward before having his movement stopped by the rail and forcing him to double back the other way. As he was up thinking, she was below, being attended to and fixed up from Shane's damage. The thought made him angry and anxious at the same time. He got that cold blooded feeling again that Shane was still alive but shook it off. If he was he would just have to make sure he beat him to immortality.

A thought struck him and he pulled out the green bead he had made for Elizabeth's hair. He was sure it would cheer her up and that thought alone made him feel more at ease because she surely had a pirates bad temper. When she was upset the whole crew knew about it. Yes, he was making Elizabeth a fine pirate indeed.

He sat down, his back against the rail. He made a note to bring Elizabeth up here soon so she could experience what it was like. On a sunny day it was brilliant. Then another thought hit him. She wouldn't be staying. She had left on her own in the first place for reasons he never asked about. The point was she had tried to leave. She didn't want to stay and if that was the case he was not going to force her. He couldn't force her.

"She is a bloody pirate," he grumbled to the wind. "It is in her blood to be at sea. So why would she ever deny herself that which she needs in order to be happy?" He knew the answer but refused to speak his name. Will.


	17. Chapter 17

Ch 17

Well Miss. Elizabeth, you should be alright." Gibbs closed the bag on the bed, wrapping up the rest of the cloth used to set wounds. Elizabeth smiled her thanks up at him. He turned to leave but froze at the door. "Ya know…" he began, turning to her. "Jack has not been the same since you came onto this ship. What I mean is… he… well, when Mikan or, eh, you said he is the legendary Bloody Shane?" Elizabeth nodded and Gibbs shivered before continuing. "Ever since you had disappeared with that man, Jack was worried. He has some crazy notion that you wanted to leave with him."

Elizabeth cringed. "Why would I want to leave with that man?"

Gibbs shrugged, a knowing gleam in his eye. "That is exactly what Jack wanted to know and I figure it still plagues him." With that he opened the door. "Take care with that rib Miss. Elizabeth. It will be easy to irritate even though it's not broken."

Elizabeth was left alone with her thoughts. Jack was worried for her. Well, she could have guessed that much by his reuniting with her. Truth be told, she was worried for him too. And that is the only reason I acted the way I did, she told herself. There is no other explanation for such behavior from me.

She sat up gently, slowly. She was not comfortable with the way she had left things between herself and Jack. After all, he braved possible capture and lost time sailing by the little side trip. Why is it that I always seem to feel guilty over him, she asked herself. Is that just a pirate trait? The ability to make one feel guilty when it is the pirates own fault? Well, it is an annoying one.

She rearranged the rather baggy shirt on her shoulders. It was a shirt Gibbs had dragged out of a chest in the cabin. It was Jack's no doubt. The thought of being in the same piece of clothing that Jack had been at one point made her strangely giddy and she felt a slight, hot blush creep up into her face. She snorted at herself. It's disgusting, really, she told herself, to be feeling such a way about one man when I am already married.

It took her a minute to reach the door. When she opened it she was none too pleased to see that it was still raining, although it had let up considerably from a downpour to just a light sprinkling. And it was dark. Her treatment had lasted longer than she had thought. Night was already upon them.

Her eyes searched the deck of the Pearl. No Jack at the helm. Cotton sent her a grin and she nodded her head at him. Hmmm. Where the devil could Jack be, she asked herself.

The rain was surprisingly cold on her face as she stepped out into it. Well, if he is nowhere out of the rain than never mind because I will not risk getting sick over a captain who should know better than to be out in it. She pulled the shirt closer around her body and headed down the stairs to the crew's sleeping quarters. The room was dark and a few snores were heard. There was a slow, methodic creaking that wasn't heard from above as it was down below as the ship sailed. Elizabeth thought that it may be a nice sound to fall asleep to.

"Now should you be up and about already, love? And trouncing around a bunch of sleeping men? For shame." Jack's voice was startlingly close.

Elizabeth whipped around, hand across her heart. "Goodness Jack, don't do that."

He seemed amused. "Can I help ye find somethi'n?"

All at once Elizabeth felt foolish. She had come to find him but she would never admit that, especially after their previous conversation. Or maybe she could tell him. Her mind started working. "Well, I came to speak to you captain." One of Jack's eyebrows shot up. She ignored his comical, quizzical look. "Gibbs told me that you had some… concerns about my previous actions."

The look on Jack's face dropped. The cocky gleam left his eyes and was replaced by sadness. Elizabeth could only see it for a moment before that barrier that he seemed to use so often slammed her off from his mind, from his emotions. He just looked at her for what seemed like forever. Elizabeth found herself wondering if he had any intention of answering. Finally, he spoke. "Do you want something to drink?"

She opened her mouth to protest, to demand that he get back on topic, but there was that look again, that sadness. The barrier was slowly slipping away. Before she could answer, he spoke again. "It will help with the pain."

Curse it all, there is that smile again, she thought as his gold tooth peeked out in his cockeyed grin. And curse me for the relief I feel when I see it. She heard herself say "Alright captain," even as her mind screamed at her. You fool! Look at yourself! Nothing good can come from this! Still, her feet moved forward, following Jack below into the cellar. Oh Will, forgive me, she silently pleaded.

Jack snatched up a lantern from the wall of the cellar as they entered. Elizabeth glanced around wearily. She had never been down here before. "Ah ha!" Jack's voice's sounded through the creaking silence, successful. She saw him remove two bottles off a shelf and she knew it was rum. He offered one to her but she shook her head. "I don't intend to get drunk Jack."

He shrugged as he put one of the bottles back. "That's a shame. Truly an honor it is, to be offered one of Captain Jack's own rum bottles from his very own rum supply." He set the lantern down on a nearby barrel and leaned back against a wooden beam. He uncorked the rum bottle and offered it to her. She looked up into his eyes. There was no trickery there. "Don't look at me like that Miss. Swann. I told you, it will help with the pain, dull it a bit."

She reached out tenderly and took it. The liquid burned down her throat as she tipped the bottle to her lips and she blinked. Awful stuff, she thought. Retched. Jack was watching her thoughtfully. "So, how are we feeling?" he asked.

She handed the bottle back to him. "I'm fine. Just a few bruises here and there." She watched him tip his head back, watched his throat as the rum traveled down inside it. She felt foolish giving him such an examination yet she found that she couldn't stop. His rings clanked softly on the side if the glass bottle as he removed it from his mouth. He looked appreciatively at the bottle before he glanced up at her.

"I would think that there was more damage done than that after how you could barely walk." She squirmed a bit as he looked her up and down. He seemed to be assessing the damage even though he couldn't see her skin. There was also a hint of something else, a hunger of some type. She crossed her arms in front of her in self conciseness. He seemed amused as his eyes set on her mid section. "And is that my shirt?"

She blushed again and prayed that the lantern light was dim enough to hide it. "Gibbs gave it to me after he fixed me up. Speaking of Gibbs, as I stated previously, he says that you had some concerns."

His eyes locked with hers. The torchlight, the lantern, made his eyes darker; at least she thought it was the flame's doing. "Nothi'n to be concerned over," he answered, waving a hand absently. "Although, if ye wanted off the ship I wish you would have just waited until we reached a safe port is all."

He brought the bottle to his lips again, not before she saw the look of hurt in his eyes. She knew somewhere that leaving like she had hurt her, made her sad. She had no idea that he may feel the same way, not until the way he greeted her when he found her. This is quickly turning into a delicate situation, she warned herself. She tried to act casual. "I knew that my presence aboard your ship brought you more trouble than you bargained for. I assumed me leaving would be a good thing and when Mikan or Bloody Shane, rather, snuck into my room there was my opportunity to leave. I didn't know he was so dangerous." She bristled at his lack of interest, the bottle resting easy on his knee, his head set back against the support beam, eyes closed. "I felt bad, if you must know," she continued angrily. "I felt bad that you had put yourself out so far for me."

This caught his attention. He brought his head back up. "I assumed that perhaps my absence would also cause the absence of more danger to you." She noticed a playful gleam in his eye and realized her mistake… a bit too late. "And the rest of the crew," she added quickly.

To her despair he stood, rum bottle abandoned next to the lantern. He had that grin and it was doing things to her again. She struggled for something else to say. She eyed the barrel. "You really shouldn't keep your rum so close to a flame."

He took a step in her direction, the smile still in place, the hunger back at full force. "Would it really be so detrimental to admit that you have an inkling of care toward me?"

The feeling he was giving her was not lessening. It was growing stronger with every step he took toward her. In desperation, she spun around to the other side of him. "I care for the whole crew," she sputtered, desperately trying to cover for her slip up.

He turned to face her, arms spread. "Of course you do Elizabeth. I would expect no less." She took a step back and cursed as her back met with wood. He had effectively cornered her. He stopped short, his face hovering inches away from hers. She could smell the rum on his breath, not as strongly as she had expected. There was more of a salty sea and wood smell to his presence. "But do not think that caring for someone makes you any less of a pirate or, in your case, a pirate king."

"I am not a pirate," she denied. Her eyes darted left and right, searching for her chance to put some distance between them. Her eyes met his and she was caught. "I am just an ordinary woman now, a woman who loves her husband" she breathed, unable to tear her eyes away.

His hand landed next to her on the post. "You will never be an ordinary woman Lizzie. You are now and forever a pirate. You can't deny the call of the sea."

She shuttered slightly. He was so close to her and she still couldn't look away. "I can if it means that Will is happy."

Jack dipped his head a bit so his eyes were level with hers. She moved her head back until it hit the wood behind her. His eyes were probing and she knew that he was looking for the truth. She wondered if maybe he could share it with her because she wasn't even sure.

She saw his eyes come away from her own to land on her lips. Quickly he brought them back up. "You know Lizzie, you need to think of yourself once in a while. Young William is not your whole world." She opened her mouth to protest but he continued. "I think you are more his and are too kind a lady to deny him that which he has an obvious obsession over."

She considered this for a moment. He had always seemed to have an infatuation for her ever since they met. But she knew that she loved him. "I love him."

Jack rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yes yes. But in what way?"

In what way? Elizabeth decided she didn't like this game. "Jack, what are you getting at? What are you trying to prove?"

He smiled at her and removed his hand from behind her, bringing it up by his other in front of him, raised in mock defense. "I was just pointing out that there is more than one type of love in this small world. And take it from someone who has been through death and back, life is too short to be playing the part of someone you're not."

She brought her hands up to her hips. "And I suppose you have any idea what it is like to be trapped between something you desperately want and a fate that is unavoidable." She realized what she had said and gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. Of course she wanted Will. He was always there for her, protecting her, always so understanding, always so caring. Her fate with him was not something to dread but celebrate. She loved him and that was all that mattered. So why had she just uttered those words when she knew that she loved him?

But in what way? Jack's words sounded in her head but she pushed them away.

Jack's voice got soft and low. His eyes dropped to the floor. There was pain in his admission. "Yes. Aye, Lizzie, I do know what it is like."

She felt a stab of curiosity. Jack knew what it was like? She abandoned any attempt to cover up her previous statement. "But, you're a pirate. You sail wherever the wind takes you and nothing holds you back."

Jack dragged his eyes back up to her face. He seemed to be debating something in his head. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again. He just gazed at her, taking yet another step forward. They were practically touching. "A stay in Davey's locker teaches one things about priorities."

Elizabeth's brows furrowed in confusion. "Priorities?"

"People. Things that come first in the list of life. Bloody priorities!" He was obviously struggling. There was more to be said but he wasn't saying it. The result was obvious frustration. His chest rose as he took a deep breath. "Give me some credit," he said after a moment, releasing the breath he was holding, eyes cast up at the ceiling. "I have sailed the seas and have more wisdom than people seem to think."

She giggled. He looked down at her, scowling. "What?"

That just made her giggle more. "I am sorry."

"No you're not," he accused, trying to remain sounding stern. "Cause if you were you would stop this."

She looked up at him through squinted eyes. "It's just that that is so very true."

He squinted his own eyes at her but not out of laughter, out of suspicion, even as a smile was creeping onto his own face. "What is true?"

Elizabeth contained her giggles when a sharp pain stabbed in her ribs. She couldn't help placing a hand over the sore spot. "People don't seem to trust you because you are a pirate. What more do you expect. Yet I find myself trusting you over and over." She tilted her head to the side, considering him and his admission to having priorities. "And you always seem to prove me wrong over and over."

His face softened. He laughed quietly, almost bitterly. "It's all your doing Lizzie."

Before she could react, he was leaning in toward her, his hand somehow having found its way behind her again. She pressed herself away from him and into the wall of wood but found that it hurt. She felt a physical need to meet him halfway and the absence of meeting that need was making her feel a literal, physical pain in her heart. "Jack," she breathed feebly, trying her hardest to remember Will and protect the love the two of them had.

"Lizzie,"was all he breathed in response. The way he said her name made her knees even weaker than they had been before. To her horror they actually started to buckle. His hands were there, though, supporting her, grasping her by the hips and pulling her against him. She gasped quickly before their lips met.

She knew that this was wrong in some sense. This time, she was thinking of Will, thinking of what could happen, of what she was doing. She pulled away with great difficulty. "Jack, we can't… we shouldn't… I mean I can't…"

"Pirate," he mumbled and his lips were already back down over hers, silencing any response she may have had. He had her pressed up against the post. She couldn't have escaped even if she had wanted to.

She found that she didn't want to so she let him. She let him bring his lips back on her own once again. She found that the little bit of sensibility she had was gone. She was lost. Her hands reached up behind his neck, pulling him toward her and deepening the kiss.

It seemed that Jack's sense did return. He groaned into her mouth as he pulled away. "But you're not mine to take, pirate or not" he gasped. She looked up at him feeling dizzy. "I may be a pirate but some treasure is already claimed."

Elizabeth knew that he was talking about her. For a reason she could not figure out, she said "I am claimed by no one. I am my own to give." Her statement seemed to add timber to the flame. Jack's longing for her seemed to intensify at her statement, desire burning in his eyes. His right hand moved away from her hip and to his belt. For a moment, Elizabeth thought the worst. She almost laughed out loud when he pulled something green out of one of his pockets. She did laugh when she recognized it as her green stone, the one she had found on the island.

He held it before her, taking a bunch of hair in his other hand. "Is that my stone?" she asked, just to be sure.

He smirked at her. "Aye. You are a pirate king, beautiful goddess, beautiful pirate princess of the Caribbean. Such a woman needs some sort of pirate attire, pirate flair." He started working some sort of braid in her hair. Elizabeth was fascinated with the deft way his hands worked. "Each of me hair trinkets means something. Each has a story." He slipped the green bead into her hair now, leaving it hanging at her chin. "I noticed you fancied this little guy so I turned him into a trinket for yer own hair." He finished up with more of the strange braiding. He stood back and looked her over. She didn't speak but just stared up at him, stunned over the quick turn of events and the way Jack carried on as if nothing had happened, as if they hadn't just shared yet another breathtaking kiss.

He nodded approvingly at his work. "Now you can always have it around as testament to your adventures." He paused, looking sad. "Whether they be on the sea or on an island, awaiting the return of your husband."

With that, Jack grabbed the lantern and rum. "Come on then. You should be sleeping."


	18. Chapter 18

Ch 18

Jack stood bathed in sunlight the next morning. He had hardly slept a wink the night before thanks to Elizabeth. The taste of her was still strong on his lips, distracting and intoxicating. That's a good word for it, intoxicating, he mused to himself as he tightened a knot. She is very much like rum. Once you taste it you find it hard to go without. He snickered to himself. Yes, kissing Elizabeth was like drinking rum, nice in the moment but could have a nasty result the next day.

Right on cue, Elizabeth emerged from her cabin or, rather, his cabin, looking troubled and grumpy. She sent him a stormy glare before marching down to the mess for a meal. He just smiled well naturedly. He had no regrets about kissing her. Well, none except the fact that it was sure to get him into a mess of trouble.

What else is new, he asked himself.

Well, this time, mate, she is married… to the Captain of the Flying Dutchman by the way, the other side reminded him. It seemed that ever since he had gotten out of the bloody locker, there were two voices talking to him, two differing opinions.

At least the illusionary persons are gone, he thought grimly. When he had first escaped it was not just differing opinions in his head but images of himself standing right before him, or beside him, or on him. He had no idea what these opinions and images could be other than madness. He had heard of something called a consciousness but that had never been a problem before.

"So Jack, nice day ain't it?" Jack jumped and spun around. Barbossa stood close behind him, smiling cleverly. Jack let out a very obvious grumble as he turned back to his work. "Correct me if I am wrong… captain… but didn't you used to be much more awares?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Correct me if I am wrong but didn't you used to be much more dead?"

Barbossa laughed as Jack stalked past him. "Would you credit yer lack of alertness to a certain wench?"

Jack was surprised at how much the term when used to refer to Elizabeth irked him. He tried hard to remain composed, keep his Sparrow cool. "My apologies. I didn't realize you needed one so badly. I shall deposit you at the next, closest port we find."

Barbossa came to stand next to Jack. Jack eyed him sideways, annoyed at his presence. He busied himself by pulling out his eyeglass. "There is no need. It seems we have a willing one on board with us right now."

Jack whirled on him, unable to hold back the anger the comment brought forth. Barbossa smiled into his face, a knowing gleam in his eye. Jack snapped shut his looking glass and brought his hands up close to Barbossa's face, waving them animatedly as he spoke. "What makes you think that I have the time, nor the patience to listen to you? I am a busy man Barbossa, a busy captain who is currently on his way to immortality."

Barbossa shrugged his shoulders. "You won't be for long if ye keep up with the late night meetings with another man's wife. Does that not make her a wench?"

Jack caught movement out of the corner of his eye, just as his hands started for his pistol. Both pirates snapped their heads toward the approaching figure. It was Elizabeth, standing with a half eaten apple, oddly enough, clutched in her hand. She was watching them with cold intensity. Jack plastered a grin onto his face. She wasn't fooled. "Jack, we need to have a talk."

Jack pointed a questioning finger at himself, glancing about for someone else. Barbossa growled and shoved him toward her. "Don't worry Captain, I will watch the helm." He sent him a fake salute and a mocking, victorious chuckle. Before Jack could protest, Elizabeth spoke.

"Jack…" She seemed to be at a loss for words. "Where can we talk… you know… alone?"

Jack couldn't help it. "Ah. So you have finally come your senses have you? Once you taste Jack you can't go back eh?" The glare she sent him was angry but he detected a hint of laughter amongst it all.

Her voice said otherwise. It dropped low and threatening. "Do not push me Jack."

He paused, glancing into her eyes. As many times as he told himself it was a game, had always been a game, somewhere deep inside, so deep that it was usually ignored, he knew that she was not just another passing fancy. He knew she was doing detrimental things to him. He knew that he felt something strong for her.

"Jack," she warned, her eyes darting to the various crew members now setting about swabbing the deck and carrying out their respective duties. His eyes landed on Dirk, making his way to the crow's nest.

"I do know a place." He brought his eyes back to her face. "How do you feel about heights?"

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Elizabeth poked her head into the crow's nest platform. She got a funny feeling in her stomach that she credited to nerves. Nerves about the height, she told herself even as she knew she had no such fear. The lack of space for two did make her stomach flip flop. Just because I am a little claustrophobic, she countered. Jack's voice behind her, or rather beneath her snapped her out of her thoughts. "Well Lizzie? Shall we remain hanging here the rest of the day? I wouldn't complain. The view is…"

She shook the feeling away, sticking her chin up. She was a confident woman, an independent woman. A married woman. She pulled herself the rest of the way up and looked down at where she had come as Jack clambered up close behind. She couldn't help but be in awe at the ease in which he scaled the climb. "You come up here a lot I can tell yet I have never witnessed you here."

He smirked at her. "I am not an open book love. There is a bit more to me than meets the eye."

She smiled back. "I know that Jack." She didn't allow the creeping feeling, one becoming very familiar to her when she was in the presence of Jack, distract her. She turned away from him and couldn't help but gasp.

The blue Caribbean Sea sparkled and shone as the morning rays of sunlight glinted off its gentle waves. The water was so crystalline clear that she could spot creatures stirring beneath the clear surface. A slight breeze stirred her hair and tugged at the sails that were now level with her. They snapped happily at the contact. The crew below seemed so small, each moving about while Elizabeth felt that she was frozen in time. She opened her mouth to speak but found that there was nothing to say.

"It's lovely in' it?" Jack asked, his voice unusually soft, blending into the atmosphere as if it belonged, disturbing neither the serenity nor the tranquility of the scene before her.

"Jack it's so beautiful up here! It's like a whole other world!" She laughed and found tears springing into her eyes. She had never pinned Jack as such a sensitive type, a man that could have such an eye for beauty. Sailing the seas was a thing of beauty in and of itself but she couldn't see how she had ever gone on without witnessing such captivating, breathtaking glory.

She noticed how close Jack was as he shifted behind her. She could feel the heat from his body, his shadow casting darkness beside her. She pulled herself back to the issue at hand with difficulty. "And a very good way to distract me," she scolded as she turned to face him.

Bad move, she scolded herself now. She was nearly nose to nose with Jack on such a small platform, their hips almost touching. She took a step back and came in contact with the rail. He reached out a hand to her shoulder as she stumbled. "Don't want to be moving around up here too much," he laughed nervously.

She laughed back nervously before composing herself. "Jack, we need to talk about…" About what?! She thought frantically. Us?! My marriage?! Him?! "us," she decided.

He nodded to the new addition to her hair. "That looks nice on you."

"Jack," she snapped rather irritated. "We need to talk about us! Stay on topic with me if you please."

His eyes darkened a bit, clouded with sadness. He turned away from her. "Whatever do you mean love?" His voice was light as before but his eyes had given him away.

"When you kissed me… I mean back when you saved me yet again and I kissed you back… Jack, I am happily married." She struggled for the right words to say.

Jack visibly stiffened in front of her, his back unusually strait. His voice betrayed nothing. "Then why ever would you kiss me back I wonder?" She opened her mouth to answer, not even sure what she was going to say before he continued. "That is the very thing you could ask me. I have asked myself that many times. You kissed me, you killed me. Your first kiss with me was a kiss of death you may say. I wondered what would have possessed me to pursue that which was my doom before." Elizabeth decided to let him speak without interruption. For once it wasn't about her. He was opening up.

But it seemed he had nothing more to say. He just stood facing away from her, his hair blocking the side of his face from her view. A tight feeling came into her throat. She swallowed numerous times. She wasn't about to cry. Surely she wasn't about to cry. But what he had just implied brought back so many feelings. She had regretted killing him more than she had ever regretted anything in her life. She had thought that bringing him back would erase that longing she had felt for him, that physical pain in his absence. Oddly, it only seemed to be worse now that he was here and she was with him. Something inside her screamed for more.

His voice spoke again, startling her. "I am sure that it will be my doom again in one way or another." He turned to her and his eyes were cold and almost mocking. "I have no regrets about kissing you Elizabeth. Know that. But I know that you do."

She finally found her voice. "Why did you kiss me Jack? Why did you kiss me and… speak to me in such a way as you did?"

"I could ask you the same question love," he responded. "But since you asked me first I shall answer in all honesty." Laughter sparkled in his eyes, dancing in the deep brown center of his piercing gaze. "I am a pirate, bound to the sea for the rest of my days. A pirate takes what he can without asking any questions. He, or she," Here he shot her a meaningful look. "does whatever he or she pleases whenever he, or she wants. A pirate is bound by nothing but his own will."

The words moved something in her heart. This was like the last conversation they had had so long ago. 'You long for freedom. You long to do what you want to do because you want it, to act on selfish impulse. You want to see what it's like. One day, you won't be able to resist.' It seemed he was right. She had finally given into something that she had wanted even though it was forbidden.

"I assume that is the very reason that you partook in such and activity with me Lizzie. Selfish impulse. You saw something you wanted and took it. You are a regular pirate." He leaned back against the rail.

Anger flared up again. "I did not want you Jack Sparrow," she hissed, lowering her voice as if speaking the words too loudly may call Will, although she didn't know why she should worry if the words were really true. "And I am certainly not a pirate… anymore."

"It's not something you can escape love. When I drop you back off at whatever spit of land your little heart desires you will long for the sea for one reason or another." His voice started to sound like a sneer. "I am afraid even the presence your dear William cannot change that. Especially when his time on land with you is so fleeting. I wonder how a man who claims to love you could keep you from that which you love, leave you alone and so lonely for so long."

Heat rose in her cheeks at the indication. Jack seemed happy with her response and she realized with horror that he meant the sea, not him. "I love William," she offered feebly.

"Unfortunately," Jack added. "But again, in what way? I have no doubts about your love for the courageous young Mr. Turner. He is a good man. But is a good man what you really want most?"

His hand dropped down to the compass hanging off his belt casually. She eyed it with curiosity and dread. "I will admit that it is a hard fate to swallow." She dragged her eyes back up to his. His eyes were looking up at her under his kohl lined lids, his face downcast. He was smiling knowingly at her. "But I will gladly take on such a burden for the man I love."

Jack sighed, pulling the compass from his belt to rest in his hand. "I wonder if you love him in such a way why it took so long for us to locate the chest of Davey Jones back when you wanted to rescue your heart's desire so much." Elizabeth had a feeling she knew where this was going. "I wonder why that love couldn't stop you from kissing me again in the woods."

"I was relieved to see you. That's all," she snapped irritably.

"Elizabeth, I answered you honestly. Now you answer me. What really possessed you to kiss me yet again? I know that it takes two people to carry out such an activity darling." He was smiling at her, an impish grin; a knowing smile.

She took the same annoying approach. "Why would you care if I was just a passing fancy, a pleasing moment?" She noticed his fingers tighten ever so slightly on the compass clutched in his hand. "What is it that you really want most?"

He smiled and gestured at the sea with a tilt of his head. "The open sea, the Pearl."

Now she was smiling, stepping closer to him. She realized she was playing too close to the flame and that she was bound to get burned. "How are you really feeling Jack? What is it that YOU really want most, hmmm? How could that be when you came to get me off an island before you rescued your precious ship?"

He pulled the compass behind him discreetly. "Immortality of course," he answered with a confidence he was not feeling. He used the very words Barbossa had told him was the reason he wanted her aboard. "I wanted you with me in case I should have another run in with the Flying Dutchman's captain."

Elizabeth found herself disappointed for just a moment at his answer but something in the way he wouldn't meet her eyes anymore told her otherwise. She didn't know why it was so satisfying to see that he may have feelings for her. "I wonder what the captain would really think should he see this situation." She spoke to Jack but felt it directed at herself as well.

Jack gestured with his hands at the space around him. "What? There is nothing to be ashamed of here. No dirty happenings."

"But I have betrayed Will by leaving the island, not to mention kissing you." She poked him in the chest with her finger to bring the point home. "I just wanted to clear things up between us. I like you Jack but I am happily married."

"Now we all know that's a lie love." He was smiling still but his eyes were hurt, as if she had just denied him something.

She let the frustration of his stubbornness overcome guilt as she moved to the climb down. She looked up into his face as she started her decent. She was met with the same smile. It unnerved her more than it should for a woman happily married.

She reached the deck without incident. It seemed Jack had no intention of following her, though, as she saw him up above, staring out thoughtfully at the sea around him. She sighed. That was done. So why did she feel more guilty than before? Why did it seem that she had brought more trouble than she had buried.

Suddenly there was a commotion from the crew. Everyone started backing away from the rail. Elizabeth ran over to the nearest man, visions of the kraken flashing thorough her head even as she told herself that it was dead. "What's happening?"

The man looked at her with frightened eyes. "It seems we have a visitor Miss."

Just then, a crash was heard as if the sea itself was rising up to meet them. That very well could have been the case as a wall of water rose up above them. Elizabeth squinted and realized it really wasn't a wave at all. She looked up at Jack who was just glancing down to meet her eyes.

It was the Flying Dutchman.


	19. Chapter 19

Ch 19

Will emerged from the depths of the sea with a splash, his ship settling roughly on the surface. He had finally decided to pay Jack a visit. He had much he wanted to discuss with the captain. One of the things on his list was to properly thank him for saving his life. Even if the fate was near unbearable for him, he was still alive and being able to see Elizabeth only once every ten years was better than never again.

A more urgent priority was to see about Elizabeth. He had a sinking feeling that Jack would run into her one day in some way or another and he wanted to get some things clear for when he did. The kiss he had witnessed the two sharing had rattled him, even when Elizabeth had claimed that she didn't love Jack, that it had only been a kiss to distract him so they could escape. He still wasn't sure about Jack's feelings on all of it, let alone his own wife's. The whole event had been closed but not yet latched. Something about the way Elizabeth looked at Jack…

It had also been a small hope that perhaps Jack would know some way to reverse the thing done to him, bring him back to mortality, something, anything so he could be with Elizabeth.

'Bootstrap' came up beside him as the rest of the crew walked to the rail. "What do you hope to gain from this meeting William?"

Will smiled grimly at him. "I want some way to free myself from this fate. But I am bound here for all eternity." His voice became gentle. "The sacrifice was well worth it to save you, make no mistake. But Jack has cheated death. Perhaps he can help me." He paused, trying to figure out if he should voice his next thoughts because if he did that would make them true. "I also want to discuss Elizabeth." He settled on that. The truth was, if there was no way to find help for himself or some way to be with Elizabeth than Jack was the only one he could turn to, the only one who may protect her in his absence. And if that look in her eyes had been what he feared it was then he may have to take…

He shook the thoughts away. He prayed that it wouldn't come to that.

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Jack pushed past the crew to stand at the front. Bugger, that's the Dutchman alright, he thought. He glanced over at Elizabeth. Her eyes were wide with disbelief and fear, uncertainty and joy. Hearing the mutterings about death and curses from the newer crew members, he turned to face them and quiet the questions. "Steady all hands! This is a friend of mine. He will do you no harm."

This seemed to calm them a bit. Jack himself wasn't feeling too peachy. Sure, Will would do no harm to the crew but what about himself? This was the husband of the woman he decidedly had… some sort of feelings for, the woman he had kissed… three times now. Bugger. He could only have so many excuses. Now he didn't even have time to come up with a suitable excuse; no time to warm up to the Ferrier of Death before he spoke to his wife, an event where she would no doubt tell young but now very powerful and immortal William of what had gone on. Bugger bugger bugger.

"Ahoy there Captain Jack Sparrow!" Will's voice sounded pleasant enough Jack thought as he waved a hand. "Permission to come aboard?"

Jack smiled as big as he could muster. This man was as gullible as they came. He had tricked him once he could do it again. One thing was certain; he was not going to let Will take Elizabeth away. "Permission granted William, as long as the Dutchman captain is only here on friendly terms, aye?"

Will smiled and prepared to board. Jack turned to the crew. "Go on now. Snap to. Drop anchor and make haste. That is the captain of the dead, the Captain of the Flying Dutchman. I expect some privacy when we speak." The crew nodded, pale faced and scurried away to carry out their orders. Gibbs however, moved to stand beside Jack. Elizabeth was still some space behind, hidden by the flurry of activity.

"Well Jack, now you're in quite the mess." He chuckled nervously. "It will be nice to see William again. I am sure that Elizabeth will be in better spirits as well."

"As long as she is still with us when young Will departs." Jack turned to face him, lowering his voice. "Gibbs, I trust you realize the tedious nature of this run in." Gibbs nodded, face serious, swallowing. "Barbossa is not to open his mouth, understood? The results could be… unpleasant, to say the least."

The man in question strutted up to Jack's side. Gibbs signaled his approach to Jack with a dart of his eyes before nodding and moving away to help the crew. Jack turned to face Barbossa. There was a light of amusement shining in his cold eyes. Jack looked over to see Will boarding. Barbossa turned to look as well. A thought seemed to strike both men at the same time. They both moved at once toward Will. Jack knew that he needed to reach the captain first. He stepped directly in front of Barbossa, earning an angry grunt from the cut off pirate before he felt a hand land on his shoulder, attempting to pull him back. "Who's the captain mate?" Jack asked as he struggled to remain in front of his nemesis.

"I am the rightful captain," Barbossa growled.

Jack turned and slapped Barbossa's hand away. Barbossa just looked at him as if he was too immature to believe… before he slapped Jack back. The two engaged in a slapping fight, batting at each other's hands as they struggled to reach Will. Fed up with the activity, Jack knocked Barbossa's hat off his head. The old pirate cursed and moved to pick it back up as Jack slid up to Will's side. "Ah, William. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Will's brow furrowed in confusion over the scene he had just witnessed, his eyes watching Barbossa as the man dusted off his hat and moved away, defeated. With a slight shake to his head, he chuckled and turned to Jack. "I wanted to talk about some things with you Sparrow, namely thank you for saving my life."

Jack bowed slightly, a smile playing on his lips but sincere thanks in his eyes over the receiving of gratitude. "As long as you're not here to take mine," he laughed nervously.

"Depends," Will joked good naturedly. He was about to speak again when his eyes locked on something just behind Jack. Or someone, Jack thought with dismay.

His guess was confirmed. "Elizabeth?" Will whispered in a disbelieving voice. Jack turned to follow his gaze. It was Elizabeth alright. She was timidly coming up behind him, almost like a child meeting a stranger for the first time.

"Elizabeth!" Jack shouted enthusiastically. "Look who we have here! Your husband, Mr. William Turner has decided to pay us a surprise visit!" He moved to the side slightly so the two could see each other better but more so he was out of reach of the cutlass hanging off of Will's side.

"Elizabeth! I've missed you," Will whispered as he came forward to embrace her. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I've missed you too," she mumbled into his neck.

Jack tried to suppress a shudder at the scene unfolding. His heart tightened painfully in his chest. Ah, yes. This is why I wasn't supposed to kiss her, to encourage those feelings, his voice acknowledged. He watched Elizabeth's face as Will pushed her away at an arm's length so he could look at her. Her face was shining happily as her eyes traveled over his face. Jack's stomach did a disgusted little flip.

He brought his eyes over to Will's face. There was joy and relief there. Suddenly it twisted into something else, question and slight pain. "What are you doing here?" he asked as he fingered the bead in her hair. His tone was slightly accusing.

Elizabeth shifted slightly under his hands. Everything in her body language was telling Jack that she was uncomfortable. He took some joy that the perfect reunion was not really as perfect as it had seemed but she was feeling uncomfortable none the less and he didn't want to see her anything but happy. Still, he tried to stay out of the reunion. "And look at all of these bruises! Are you alright?"

"Yes, I am fine now. Oh Will, it is such a long story! I was on the island where you left me, guarding the chest and it was lonely…"

"Where is the chest?" Will interrupted, slight panic in his voice.

Elizabeth cocked and eyebrow at him, irritation written on her face from his lack of faith in her ability to carry out the important task given to her. "It is safe in the captain's cabin."

Will's face took on a look of shock that pleased Jack immensely. If he wants to think those kinds of things than let him, Jack thought. Elizabeth didn't seem amused. She scowled and took a step away from Will. "You don't think I would… Jack gave me his cabin when I came aboard!"

Will seemed anything but convinced. "I thought we had agreed that you would protect my heart."

Elizabeth drew back a little more. "Will, I am protecting your heart! It is right here with me."

"On land is where we agreed," he snapped, looking away from her. Jack felt for Elizabeth. She was obviously being accused of a number of 'evils' and that was not a fun place to be. He stayed out of it since he seemed as good as invisible anyway.

Elizabeth looked frustrated. "No, you just dropped me off there. Of course I will guard your heart, with my life! But we never agreed that it, or I, was to remain on land."

Will looked back at her, his eyes narrowed slightly. "I thought it went without saying. I thought that our marriage would put this piracy behind us."

Jack was startled to find his fists clenched at his sides. The conversation was so unfair to Elizabeth. She was nothing but loyal to the man that stood accusing her, completely loyal to guarding the chest. Did he not see the joy in her eyes when she sailed on the sea? Did he not see the way she had held her head higher than she ever had as a woman of high society in Port Royal when she was named the Pirate King? He had no right to make her feel as uncomfortable as he was. No right to approach her on his ship. No right to stand so close to her. No right to look at her like he did. No right to be married to her.

Silence was not Jack's strong suit. He held up a finger as he spoke, coming up between the quarrelling couple. "If I may," he began, surprised at his own restraint and the pleasant tone to his voice. "I was on my way by the little spit of land you left her alone on, an island crawling with dangerous men by the way, when I spotted her, collapsed in a heap." Will's eyes widened in fear as Jack's narrowed in anger at the memory. His voice began to lose some of its pleasantry. "No need to worry. I was there for her. Nursed her back to health."

Will didn't seem to like all that implicated. "I would have been there had you not made me stab that heart."

Jack held a hand up to his ear. "Is that regret I hear because a moment ago it seemed you were thankful that I gave up immortality to you when I could have in fact kept it all for me onesies. Are you saying you are worse off, sailing the seas, untouchable and able to see your beloved once every ten years rather than waiting out her life to be joyously reunited in heaven?"

Will narrowed his own eyes and craned his neck to see Elizabeth behind Jack. The air was tense with withheld emotion before Jack continued venting. "How selfish could you be, leaving her alone on an island, no doubt lonely out of her mind; denying her that which makes her truly happy."

"And I suppose you know what that is," Will challenged, his hand drifting, not unnoticed by Jack, to the hilt of his sword.

Jack's own hand rested on the steel at his side. He sent Will a smirk, his gold teeth sparkling but his eyes cold an accusing. "The sea mate, and all that inhabit it."

Will snarled, pulling out his sword. Jack pulled out his own to meet it as Will swung at him. The cold steel blades clashed together, the sound splitting the tension that had so long hung around them. Elizabeth's voice joined into the sounds of battle. "Stop it!"

Will continued to accuse Elizabeth as his sword met Jack's again. "So not two days after we depart…" He paused to stab at Jack again. "you go running off with Jack?" He grunted as Jack's next slash met his blade especially powerfully.

"No William. I took her, seduced her against her will. I whisked her away to that o' so evil land of piracy and adventure, took her away to the thing that she has come to love." Sarcasm dripped from Jack's voice as he struck again, their blades becoming interlocked. He took the opportunity to get in Will's face. "I merely came to undo the damage you were trying to befall on her."

Will didn't like that at all, Jack decided, as he shoved Jack away from him, eyes flashing. Elizabeth didn't want to be talked about any longer. "Enough! This is too much! Will, is this the way you want our meeting to be when we will not be able to see each other for such a long time?"

Will panted, keeping his sword raised in Jack's direction. "I should be able to see you all I want if you plan to spend the rest of your days sailing around in the arms of Jack. I can visit the land of the living as long as it's on the sea. The question will be if I want to see you as such."

Jack chanced a glance at Elizabeth's face and he didn't like what he saw. The smallest hint of tears sprung to her eyes as she looked at Will. Her voice trembled when she spoke but if it was from sadness or anger, Jack couldn't decide. "You are the man I married! But then again, you never did trust me did you?" She tipped her head up slightly. "Besides, what is so wrong with being a pirate?"

"I cannot stand the thought of you spending your time with Sparrow." Will continued, ignoring her defense of piracy. Jack rolled his eyes. Now Will was speaking as if he wasn't even there. Will brought his eyes to Jack, accusing. "So I will do away with him now."

He charged Jack but Jack was ready. He spun to the right, putting a mast behind him as Will's blade cut through the air. There was a fury in Will's eyes that Jack found he really couldn't deny the man. Will had come for a visit only to find his wife on Jack's ship. The question remained; why the fury if Will knew that Elizabeth couldn't possibly have any feelings for him? He was sure now that he wasn't the only one who thought that Elizabeth may feel something for him and the renewed possibility gave him hope and power.

He met Will's blade again and could tell that Will was fighting a dangerous battle, one dominated by anger that clouded his judgment. He unlocked their blades again and ducked as Will made a deadly strike for his head. There was the sound of rope being sliced behind him and he whipped his head around to the source.

Jack knew, with dread, what was going to happen before it happened yet he found it all happening too fast. The cut rope on the mast had been pulled tight, keeping a wood support in its place. Without it, without the fore mentioned rope, he knew that the beam would collapse onto the deck in one sweep, collapse right where Elizabeth was standing. It was all happening too fast and maybe the other ropes could support it enough but he doubted it. Still, he knew he had to stop it, he knew that she was in danger and that thought made him abandon all others. He started for her, shouting her name.

Then Will was there, standing in his path, sword obliviously raised, anger still blinding him to all else. He didn't have the time! He met Will's assault, parrying his blow. Coming up beside him, he brought his elbow to the side of Will's neck and pounded down hard, making Will drop to the deck, limp, before he could react.

Elizabeth looked around, confused at Jack's warning. Her eyes widened as she saw Will fall. The creaking overhead and the whoosh of wind alerted her too little too late. The bar caught the side of her head and continued on its inevitable swing, taking her with it over the edge of the ship.

Jack cursed as he reached the rail, just in time to see her hit the water. He didn't wait for her to resurface, leaping off the ship headfirst to save her. In the back of his mind, so far back it barely flickered to the surface, he thought of how much this was like when he had first met her. She had fainted and fallen off the top platform of the fort. He knew that saving her was to blow his own cover but he couldn't let someone die right before his very eyes. It was strange how different the situation was this time around, his action to save her driven not by the need to save an innocent life but by his need to have her around, the need to protect her.

He stroked to her motionless body which was slowly sinking. He grasped her around the waist tight and knew by her lack of response that she was unconscious. He brought them both up to the surface with powerful strokes and was met with the faces of his crew, peering down at him. Gibbs shouted for a rope and soon Jack, Elizabeth in his arms, was hoisted up and out of the chilly water.

There were murmurs and accusing and questions all around him but Jack didn't hear them. He just scooped Elizabeth up into his arms and carried her into his captain's cabin.

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Will groaned as he opened his eyes. Barbossa was standing over him, an amused look on his face. Will looked around, confused. He felt no pain and yet he knew that he had blacked out. He moved his fingers and felt the sword gripped in his hand. The fight came rushing back to him. "Where is Jack," he asked, sitting up. Strangely there was no pain in his head. He had no idea how he had done it but somehow, Jack had taken him out without landing a blow to his head. All he remembered was Jack running up to him and raising his elbow and suddenly his whole world went black.

"He is… tending to Elizabeth," Barbossa informed him, smiling.

Will scowled, confused. "Attending her? What… what happened? How long was I out?"

Movement behind him caught his attention. He stood and turned to see a bunch of the crew crowded around someone. "You were only out for a minute or so," Barbossa told him as he, too, turned to watch the scene. "Mrs. Turner was knocked overboard during the fight."

Will looked at him in alarm before he started toward the group. He froze in his spot when he saw Jack emerge from the center of the crew, an unconscious Elizabeth in his arms. His eyebrows were knitted together in concern as he looked down at the woman in his arms. He seemed to not notice anyone but himself and Elizabeth, not even Will as he breezed past him toward the captain's cabin.

Barbossa's dry chuckle broke him from his stupor. "You cut a rope in your scuffle, releasing a pole high above Elizabeth's head. She was knocked clear off the deck." Will kept his eyes trained on Jack as he kicked open the door to the cabin and carried Elizabeth inside.

"I was so angry with Jack. I couldn't stand the thought of him being with Elizabeth, couldn't stand the thought of her choosing to be with him." He dropped his head in defeat. "Jack looked so worried about something and I heard him call out Elizabeth's name but I couldn't break free of that anger and now she may be…"

He walked toward the cabin without another word. Barbossa smiled. This all seemed too easy and much too fun. Soon Will would find out about the relationship that was blossoming between his wife and Jack. The question was, what could he gain from causing the sure to be chaos when Will was informed? Perhaps the chaos itself would be reward enough.

He smiled as his monkey, Jack, leaped up onto his shoulder. "I missed you Jack," he cooed to the little creature. "Did you find the chest?"The little monkey screeched and pointed to the captain's cabin. Ah, so Elizabeth was telling the truth. The heart was, indeed, aboard the ship. This made things oh so much more interesting.

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Jack laid Elizabeth down gently and plopped himself into a chair he pulled up to the bedside. He took a look at the cut on the side of her head. He shook his own head slightly. Her bruises were just beginning to heal and now she had a gash that would no doubt leave her with a scar in the future. The thought made him shake with anger. She had been through so much the past couple of days. It hurt him to see her go through so much physical and emotional pain and as he saw her lying there, seeming so peaceful, he knew that he wanted to protect her forever. He wanted to make sure that no one touched her, caused her so much pain ever again. He wanted to be the one who raised his sword to defend her. The epiphany made him chuckle softly. What kind of pirate was he?

'A good man.' Elizabeth's voice reverberated in his head.

As if his memory awakened her, she stirred and sat up with a gasp, swaying in her upright position. She winced before she started to fall back again. Jack supported her back and eased her down. "What am I going to do with you love, always hurting yourself like you do?"

She glanced around, confused. "What happened Jack? Where is Will?"

He sighed and nodded toward the open door to the cabin leading outside. "He is on deck no doubt. Have no worries. He would be here by your side I am sure except I had to calm him down for a moment. Couldn't get a bloody thing done with him around."

She set her lips in a grim line. "I saw you knock him out. Is he ok?" When Jack shrugged at her she laughed but worry still wore at the edges of her voice. "Jack. Is he ok? What did you do?"

He gave in when he saw her attempt to get up again. "I hit a pressure point in his neck and put 'em out for a minute or so. No need to fret. I am sure he will charge in here in a moment or so in a jealous rage. That is what caused this whole mess in the first place was it not?"

Elizabeth's face took on a look of concentration. "Yes… you two were fighting." Jack moved over to a small desk in the room and produced a bowl from a drawer. "Will was upset with me for being here." She sighed, sadness in her eyes. "I disappointed him."

"What is there to be disappointed about?" he asked. "You are off doing what you love, sailing the seas and getting yourself into a heap of trouble like you always do. You are still guarding the heart."

Conversation ceased for a moment as Gibbs came in, wordlessly taking the bowl from Jack to get warm, fresh water from the kitchen. Jack nodded his thanks as Gibbs left. "He doesn't have a love for adventure like I do Jack," she admitted sadly as Jack sat back down in front of her. "He isn't as happy on the sea as he is on the land. I am the opposite. I was only thinking of myself by coming with you. I should have had you drop me off at Whitecap bay or at some other piece of land." Tears came into her eyes again and she angrily wiped them away.

Jack frowned at her, his eyes compassionate. "When people love each other it is all about give and take. You both deserve to be happy. You give up your life to guard his heart and he gives up his fairytale ending to sail forever instead of being dead. But that doesn't mean that you should be bound from the things you love, secluded by yourself on an island. There is no shame in sailing away, doing what you love. Trust me Lizzie. If anyone knows about shameful acts than it's yours truly."

He cursed silently before he spoke again, hating what he was about to say but knowing it was going to help. "William is a decent man and was only surprised. I am sure he didn't mean to sound as unpleasant as he did." He couldn't help the dry way he spoke of Will. While what he said may have been true, it was still no excuse.

Gibbs came in and set the bowl on the bed in front of Jack before leaving without a word. Jack dipped a cloth hanging off the rim into the water and gently placed it over the cut. Elizabeth hissed slightly at the contact but then settled. "That should stop the bleeding. The cut isn't too deep."

"What is it that hit me?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes shooting expecting glances at the still open door. Jack knew that she was waiting for Will to come, wondering if he would come. Wondering why he wasn't with her yet. He wondered himself. The pressure point he had hit only caused a momentary black out. He should have been up a while ago.

"When Will made a go at me, he sliced a rope which was holding a beam in place. The beam hit you on its swing down." He removed the cloth and it was red with blood. With the pressure relieved from the cut, its bleeding had slowed considerably. He put it back in place.

Elizabeth's eyes drifted to the door again. "Is the beam a big loss?"

Jack laughed out loud. "No. It was held up by many more ropes. The one Will cut was just the one suspending it on one side."

She smiled at his laughter. "What's so funny?"

Jack shook his head. "How could you ask about the beam when we nearly lost you? I had to dive into the water to save you again I will have you know Missy."

A board creaked and Jack knew it was Will without turning around. He stiffened but refused to turn. He wasn't going to give up the role of care taker up to Will. He was surprised when Will said nothing, almost startled to feel no steel at his neck, no gun being cocked.

Elizabeth had her eyes fixed on Will. No one said anything and the silence was deafening. Jack could feel eyes on his back but still didn't turn. Finally, Will spoke. "Are you alright Elizabeth?"

She nodded slowly. The sadness in Will's voice made Jack wince. He rolled his eyes at his own sympathy. "Hold this in place a bit longer Lizzie. The bleeding should stop completely in a moment or so." He stood to face Will, who glared at him tiredly.

"Jack, can I talk to you?" He ran a hand over the green faded bandana on his head and looked down at the floor. Jack could tell there were a million things running through his head. He nodded and started for the door.

Will walked closer to Elizabeth and Jack turned in the doorway to observe the exchange. He still didn't want Will anywhere near Elizabeth.

Will stooped down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. He whispered something in her ear that made her eyes well up again before he turned back towards the doorway. As Jack went to pull the door shut he saw Elizabeth, staring up at the ceiling, mouth 'I am sorry too.'

Jack followed Will to the dining hall of the ship. He leaned back against a wall close to the door as Will stood facing him. For a long while, neither of them spoke and Jack made no move to do so. Whatever Will had to say was taking him some time to put into words. He had to admit, he was curious to hear what Will could have to say.

"Jack, I see how Elizabeth looks at you." Jack hid a grimace. So, this was what they were going to talk about. It was a subject he had hoped to avoid. "You seem to be one of those things that makes her happy." He looked Jack up and down. "Although I am not quite sure why."

Jack opened his arms out wide to the sides before folding them in front of himself again. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."

"I cannot be with Elizabeth in the job I am currently involved in. I was wondering if you… maybe that you would know… is there some way to cut me free from this duty?"

Jack tugged on his beaded beard in consideration. "Son, I am afraid the only way to end the fate you have been given would be to have another stab the heart and that would bring us to the very problem we avoided in having you stab it. You would die."

"Jack, I am dead without Elizabeth with me. Every day is like torture without her. But when I had sailed with her to save you, when she had sailed with you to save me, she was so different from the woman I fell in love with."

Jack shrugged. "She is no different Will. She has just found the thing that really makes her happy and that is to sail on the sea."

"One day is not long enough and though I am tortured without her, it would not be fair to doom her with the same fate." He paused and his voice shook when he spoke again. "I love her so much Jack but I cannot stand the thought of her lonely while I am gone. I don't want her held back from that which she loves on my account."

He met Jack's eyes and there was a glint of joy there. "I am also happy. Sailing with my father is what I had fought so hard for. I think I knew from the beginning that gaining my father would mean losing her. I have something I want, something I have always craved, a relationship with my father. I want Elizabeth to have the same happiness. I want her to be with someone who makes her happy." He took a step toward Jack. His voice was hesitant and unsteady. "Jack, would you protect her in my absence?"

Jack examined the man before him. He had changed so much from when he had first met him, a innocent boy that knew nothing about the high seas, a simple blacksmith chasing after his lady love. He was now a grown man with an eternity to sail the seas but his lady love had changed as well. No longer was she a governor's daughter that needed to be sheltered. She had broken free. She had lost much of the things that Will had fallen in love with.

It's a shame, Jack thought. She is such an amazing woman. Now he is practically giving her to me? He eyed Will suspiciously but the cutlass remained in its place on his side."It is quite the request William, to ask me to guard her and keep her aboard me ship. You know well that she seems to attract danger."

Will smiled. "You are living proof. I think that she is in love with you. If not, she could be easily persuaded. I want her to find happiness." His eyes grew serious and he stepped closer to Jack. "And I could see the gentleness in which you are taking care of her. You feel something for her too. But there is one thing. One day. She has to be back on the island where I left her on the day that I can step on land and I get that day with her to myself."

Jack was quiet for a moment, considering what had been asked of him. This would change everything wouldn't it? Now there was no reason to hold back. He was free to feel for her, to explore the things he felt for her. He smiled and stood tall. "You have my word as Captain Jack Sparrow that I will protect her to the best of my ability and no one shall land a finger on her. She will be safe aboard my ship."

Will seemed sad but relieved as he extended his hand to Jack. Jack clasped it and they shook. "I will hold you to that Sparrow. If you hurt her in any way…" He patted the steel at his side. Jack just smiled. "This is where she belongs and I can see that you care about her. I am not sure that I could keep you away anyway. I just want her to be happy and it seems that she is happiest here, with you."

He walked past Jack to the door. "But that one day is mine Jack. Remember that well."

Jack tipped his hat at him and stood, staring at the door for a long time after Will had left.


	20. Chapter 20

**I went back and fixed the story so that there are visible breaks between character views. Sorry that it took so long. I just noticed that there was no break. When you have the little star**s **to seperate, they don't show up on this. Its all better now. :)**

Ch 20

Elizabeth lay in her bed, eyes searching for something she could not find in the woodwork. She wanted answers to all of the feelings that were rushing through her. Her head was pounding from both the wound and all that had happened. Was there no rest? Could she not be alone for a moment before some problem or another came to her? Will showing up was not a problem, per say, but add Jack into the equation and somehow it had become one pretty fast. She knew that the two had never quite seen eye to eye. She never really was bothered by that fact. They were two terrible different people after all.

She unconsciously smiled to herself and ran a hand over the sheets covering her. The whole cabin smelled of Jack, a good scent, one she could not quite put a name too but was unmistakably him. Perhaps rum and wood? But there was also something else, something that was unable to be defined and only belonged to Jack.

She didn't understand why Will found Jack so hard to like. Yes, she found him infuriating at times but his company was always adventure filled and pleasurable. Perhaps it was the fact that he made her feel that way that Will didn't like him for.

She shivered at the memory of the kiss that the two had shared; the three kisses that they had shared. Each one had moved her more than the last. She sighed and looked at the closed door where Jack and Will had wandered through a while ago. She hoped that there would be no more fighting between them. She felt terribly guilty over the kisses that she had shared with Jack. She knew that Will would be devastated if he found out. He would be more than devastated, he would probably commit murder. He had lost control in the battle with Jack more than she had ever seen him and that was over jealous assumptions. She didn't want to think about what Will would do over the truth.

And what was that truth exactly, she asked herself. The first time Jack and Elizabeth had kissed, she had started it and she told Will, told herself, that it was just to escape, simply a distraction. She scowled as a thought came to her. What had made her think that such an act could distract him? She knew that he knew her intentions. He was the cleverest man she had ever met. Yet he was genuinely startled when he pulled away at the sound of the shackles. So either she was becoming more pirate like as he accused her or he was into the kiss, enjoying it. There had to have been a million other ways to distract him. But no. There wasn't and that was what scared her. She knew that that was the one thing to distract him.

She found herself blushing at the memory of it in a way she never could thinking about her and Will's kisses. He was definitely into the first kiss. Either that or just a really passionate kisser, she reminded herself. She knew he must have been experienced by the way other women looked at him. She grew jealous at the thought. But there was something there in his eyes when she pulled away…

She removed the cloth from her head and was satisfied to see that there was no new crimson added to the already stained white. She gingerly fingered the cut. Her hand came away clean. She sighed in relief. Jack was right. The pressure had stopped the bleeding.

She stood slowly. Her mind continued on examining the kiss despite her efforts to stop. She should have took notice of that look in his eyes when she pulled away from him to leave him to die. She should have took notice of the way it hurt to pull away from him and the way she had almost went in for another kiss that day. And even if she had missed those other indications, those other warning signs, she should have known of the danger when he kissed her again, and again and, more importantly, that she had willingly kissed him back every time with no hidden motivation at all. Just… a certain recurring feeling.

She opened the door and peered around. Regardless of what had happened or what she should have noticed, Will was here now and he deserved her attentions right now. After all, he was her husband. What he had whispered to her reverberated in her head.

'I am sorry Elizabeth.'

His words had made her feel guiltier than ever about how she had kissed Jack. He was speaking about the wound that he more or less gave to her even though it was an accident. But she knew that there was more to the apology than that. It made her uneasy and it was that unease that had pulled her from Jack's bed to find him.

As she stepped out onto the deck she heard footsteps behind her coming from the direction of the mess. She turned and came face to face with Will. He smiled weakly at her before embracing her. Her eyes widened in surprise and she pushed him away to get a good look at his face. His eyes were full of sadness and some regret. The look scared her. She could feel that something was not right. "Will, what's wrong?" she asked gently.

He stared at her for an uncomfortably long time, seeming to try and memorize every feature about her face before finally speaking. "You know that I cannot step foot onto land but once every ten years." At her confused nod he continued, voice a bit shaky. "That is not enough, not enough for either of us. It pains me too much to be without you and I know that it is lonely for you. It is not fair for both of us to endure such loneliness, especially when I am not completely alone." A small smile played behind to sorrow in his eyes. "My father… I have wanted this opportunity to get to know him, make up for time lost with him for a long while. But you, you cannot be alone, held back from that you love."

Elizabeth shook her head. "I love you and, although the wait is long…"

"The sea," Will interrupted to her confused look. "The sea and… all who inhabit it," he quoted Jack. With that he turned from her. "I have asked Jack to look after you in my absence and to make sure you're happy. The one day is still mine to spend with you but… but I am not sure if I should. It may be too painful."

"Wait a minute, Will!" Elizabeth scrambled after Will as he made his way toward his ship. She came around in front of him when he halfheartedly ignored her pleas. "I don't understand. We are married."

Will smiled sourly. "I hereby release you from that bond."

Elizabeth stared at him in horror. Her head was spinning. "Will! I love you!"

The pain seemed to be too much to bear and Will's own eyes welled up with tears. "And I you. That is why I am letting you go into the arms of another, someone who can offer you happiness." The unshed tears translated into anger. "We both know that there is another who you love but held back from because of me. The bond of our marriage is not enough, not fair, when I am with you but one day every ten years. You should be free to love another, to love the sea."

She stared up at Will without really being able to see him through the blur of her tears. "Is this what you want?" she asked weakly.

He paused for a moment. "No. Of course not but fate has torn us apart. And when the choice came down to you or my father, damn me but I chose him and now the choice pulls me away from you. I cannot have both and now I see why. Know that I treasure every moment I had to spend with you before all this." He leaned in and planted a quick, soft kiss on her unresponsive lips. Elizabeth's tears were flowing down her face freely now and he could bear to look no longer. He turned from her and hollered orders to his crew.

Elizabeth could hardly see but she could feel her heart breaking. For all the strange and wonderful feelings that Jack spurred inside her, she always loved Will, always would love Will and here he was, giving her up, confirming the very questions that had plagued her about the choice of his father over her. It seemed that even his father had been wrong when he had told her that she would be picked over him.

The blurred shape of Will stepped up onto the plank of wood connecting the two ships as he prepared to board. Elizabeth snapped, leaping forward and screaming his name in anger and sadness. Another person was walking out of her life. She was losing someone else dear to her heart and she couldn't take it. The rest of Jack's crew kept their distance, casting her sad and sympathetic glances as she screamed at him.

Will reached his own ship and the distance seemed to harden him. He nodded at the crew of the Pearl before giving orders to lift anchor. "My heart always belonged to you," he called.

She gripped the rail tightly in anger. The tears were making her head throb but still they came. She continued to scream at him even as his ship pulled away, told him that he was cruel to give up and even as she said it she knew that she had lost him way before this inevitable moment, back when she fell in love with sailing, piracy and the sea. She knew that she had lost him when he met his father and had made the choice to save him with no second thoughts to betraying Jack and the crew.

She pulled herself up to stand on the railing, not quite sure her own intent, but strong arms gripped her waist, pulling her back toward the deck. She forced against them, screaming that she didn't want to be touched, that Will was leaving her, that she was all alone. It was the voice that accompanied the grip that stopped her screams. "You are not alone, love."

She knew who it was who had stopped her progress all along but it wasn't until she heard his hypnotic voice that she allowed herself to be turned to face him and pulled into his crushing embrace. She clung to his shirt, the dirty fabric solid and comforting under her grip as she let the tears run down her face freely, sobs shaking her whole body. She was not so alone, was she? Here was a man who had always seemed to be there for her, there for her more than Will ever had been, oddly enough. A man who had a love for the sea and sailed upon it somehow had been at her side, to her rescue, more than the man that had loved her since childhood and lived down the street.

The feel of his strong chest under her clenched fists comforted her for it meant that he was still here, reminded her of the fact that he always was.

Jack clung to Elizabeth with as much desperation as she grabbed onto him. They were both desperate people, holding onto the one thing that had been constant in their lives, as if they were a piece of driftwood to each other, out on the endless sea, their only chance at surviving.

He kissed the top of her head despite the gazes of the silent crew, rubbing her back soothingly, whispering more of those comforting, senseless words. Her sobs seemed to lessen and he could feel the exhaustion starting to take its toll as her frame started to go limp in his embrace. She had not been able to have a decent amount of sleep since her whole ordeal and he knew that it was high time she got some rest.

He steered her toward the cabin as Gibbs shouted orders to the crew. Jack shut the door and led her to the bed, gently arranging the pillows behind her head as she lay down. "You need some rest love. Don't worry about anything but sleep. Captain Jack will take care of the rest."

He moved to leave but was stopped by a surprisingly strong grip on his shirt. "Jack, please don't leave me." He turned to look at his captor and her face was his undoing. Her eyes, red from crying, were looking up at him with fear and loneliness that he knew all too well. The uncharacteristic tremble in her voice told him just how vulnerable she was right now and he found he couldn't have said no even if he had wanted to.

Jack crawled over her to lay on her other side. He was surprised to feel her turn to him as soon as he had settled, burying her face into his neck so much like what she did on the island only this time it was on purpose. This time, she was knowingly doing it and the thought made him feel fiercely protective. She needed him.

He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her forehead gently, timidly. He could feel tears still weakly falling as they came into contact with the skin of his neck. Her hands trembled as she laid them on his chest and he was compelled to take one of them up in his remaining free hand. "Lizbeth, it's alright. Everything is going to be fine." Though he tried to sound strong, her tears were breaking his own heart.

When she didn't look up he tipped her face up to meet his. "Elizabeth," he almost pleaded. He could tell she was exhausted but the trauma of the day's events was keeping sleep from her. "I won't leave you love. Please stop crying. Your breaking me heart."

His comment was rewarded by one of her smiles that he missed so much and slowly the tears lessened a bit more. She held his eyes for a long time and Jack wanted nothing more than to kiss her but he didn't give in to the desire. The atmosphere between them was delicate and precious and he would do anything to keep that trust she had in him at the moment. That's why he was so startled when she brought her lips up to his all on her own.

He didn't respond at first, unsure of her intentions and after a moment off inner struggle he pulled away and looked into her eyes. She seemed surprised and hurt at his lack of participation so he spoke quickly. "Lizzie, I do not want you to regret kissing me as you have every other time."

She put a trembling hand up to the side of his face and the look in her eyes was all he needed to see to know that this was what she needed right now. He had seen the look before but always behind the wavering want to hold back for William's sake. She had never regretted kissing him before. He could see it clearly in her now. Such raw need shone in her eyes now that he could not deny her.

He brought his lips down over hers willingly and hungrily. She smelled of the salty sea with a hint of rose. He remembered that she had always smelled like that, although he never figured out how the scent got on her. Figuring that out was the farthest thing from his mind as he plundered her mouth with tenderness and fierceness at the same time and she answered with desperation of her own. She tasted of all he was missing in his life and in him Elizabeth tasted the freedom that she had so long needed. She found safety and comfort in his company as the arm around her waist tightened and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.

She ran her hand up and down his chest in a rhythmic motion, the muscles of his abdomen and chest contracting at the light, pleasing touch. A low baritone growl rumbled in his chest and Elizabeth smiled against his lips at the sensation it caused under her fingers. She felt his lips lift into a smile as well even as his hand released hers. She whimpered at the loss of contact. It seemed that she could no longer stand any loss of contact with him. She found that, even as she pressed herself against him, she couldn't get him close enough. He made a desperate sound into her mouth as she fit up against him.

She was pleased to feel the hand that had released its grip on her trembling fingers wrap around her neck, softly brushing her hair away. The cool rings were a shock to her burning skin and she shivered a bit in his arms. He pulled her closer still.

She pulled away for breath after quite a while, letting out a satisfied sigh. Jack chuckled softly but the sound turned into a sharp breath as she began cuddling back into that spot in the crook of his neck. He was overwhelmed by the situation, unable to believe the angel that had haunted his dreams ever since he had met her was now nestled in his arms. He stroked her hair and within moments, he could tell she had fallen asleep.

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Barbossa smiled to himself as he looked around the Flying Dutchman, taking time to appreciate the sea weedy sails and barnacle encrusted deck. Although it looked a lot better maintained and cared for than when Davey Jones had manned it, it still was a ship of the sea used to carry the man who ferried the souls lost at sea. It still had to have some salty, sea enveloped atmosphere about it.

While he knew he couldn't stay long, due to the fact he was very much alive, he was sure that he wouldn't need much time at all. Jack the monkey sat perched on his shoulder, screeching to alert his master to the approach of someone.

"I can't tell ye how much I be appreciati'n the lift Captain," Barbossa said to William with a smile.

Will eyed him wearily as he stepped behind the wheel of the Dutchman. Obviously the day's events were taking a toll on him. Perfect, Barbossa thought with a smile.

"Where do you want off at Barbossa?" Will asked, his voice giving away any hint of his weariness he had hid from his face.

Barbossa stepped a bit closer to the Flying Dutchman's captain and was impressed to find that Will didn't shy away from him. "Of course I wouldn't want to get anythi'n off of you without fair payment first. Its fine of you to even allow me onto ye ship, you know, considering the past we have."

Will crossed his arms. "Although I highly doubt that I would want anything you have to offer, you did marry me to Elizabeth so I assume that gives you some amount of credibility." His face fell even more as he mentioned Elizabeth and their marriage that was newly broken.

"Shame that never worked out," Barbossa broke in, fake sympathy filling his voice. This was just the opening he was looking for. "I am just glad that ye found out when ye did." He closed his eyes, looking at Will sideways from beneath his almost closed lids.

Will seemed taken back for a moment before he quickly pretended to be uninterested. Oh, this sap is easier than Jack had ever been, Barbossa thought happily. "I was a little upset at first to see her sailing with Jack but that is what she loves. I do not wish to keep her from that which she loves."

Barbossa scowled. "No boy, I mean the activities that she partook in with our dearly beloved Captain Jack Sparrow." He turned away from Will for a more dramatic effect.

Will took the bait, edgy curiosity in his voice. "What… activities are you speaking of?"

Barbossa's shoulder shook slightly in laughter. "I was sure ye would have figured it out by now boy. Your Miss. Swann seems to love more than just sailing on the sea."

Will snorted. "Believe me Barbossa, I could see it. Why do you think I left her with him? I witnessed the kiss between them before and although she was merely distracting him, I know she feels something for Jack."

Barbossa spun around to face him and this time Will did back away a bit. "The captain you so naively left your ex-wife with had already pursued her! She made no attempt to fend off his advances either." Jack the monkey seemed to agree if his jumping up and down on Barbossa's shoulder was any indication.

Will's eyes darkened. "Why should I believe you?" He couldn't help but add, "And what kind of… perusing are we speaking of here?"

Barbossa smiled, his old, dirty teeth fully exposed. "Late night excursions. I seen 'em creeping up from the woods one rainy day, Jack clutching Elizabeth's waist tight." He decided to leave out the fact that the pirate had just saved her life. "And another time I watched 'em creep down into the cellar to do some talkin of sorts, although I doubt that there were many words involved."

Will narrowed his eyes. "Is that why you came aboard my ship? To tell me lies?"

"All I speak is true. Elizabeth is not as pure and honora…"

"Elizabeth has always been honorable and pure and good to her vows!" Will yelled, interrupting Barbossa. The old pirate sneered at him, annoyed to be cut off even if it was all in his own favor. If Will was getting worked up than he knew that Will believed him, even as he was trying to defend her. Barbossa knew he was more trying to convince himself.

"Perhaps she was. That is, until she became a pirate, sailing under the watchful and no doubt lustful eye of Jack Sparrow."

Will spoke between clenched teeth as if the past conversation hadn't even occurred. "Where do you want off Barbossa?"

"Actually, I have a plan of my own that could get both of us what we desire." He paused again for dramatic effect. He continued when he saw some of the anger drain from Will's eyes, replaced with curiosity. "We both want Jack Sparrow gone."

Will opened his mouth to deny it, to defend Jack, but found that he couldn't speak. For so long it had seemed like he had been defending the man. That had all been for Elizabeth's sake though, hadn't it? He had always defended the captain because he had helped save Elizabeth, kept her save in his absence; because she always looked so desperate when he was in danger. Well, he was done with that. Despite his minds efforts to recognize Barbossa's words as a lie, he had always feared in the back of his mind that Jack would have made some advances on Elizabeth. He had no doubts. He was a pirate. But to hear that Elizabeth had willingly let him get so cozy with her made his blood run cold. She really wasn't the woman he had fell in love with. She was more pirate now than he was willing to admit.

He clamped his mouth shut and nodded, pale faced. He still loved her and Jack had turned her into someone he didn't even recognize anymore. The pirate was a dirty trickster who had poisoned the once sensible mind of his love and surely someone had to pay for that. Funny how Jack hadn't seemed quite so dastardly a bit ago when he left Elizabeth in his care. "I want the old Elizabeth back," he growled.

Barbossa clamped a hand onto Will's shoulder. "Ah, now we see eye to eye. We could have him gone in a fortnight if we go forward with my plan."

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Far ahead of the Flying Dutchman, at the ships destination, a bloody mess of a man lay in the rain that had not stopped in days. The fore mentioned man did not mind. His body was already cold. His chest no longer rose and fell in the intake and release of breath that humans classify as breathing. A bullet still lodged in his chest made sure of that.

His companions stood protectively around him, red coats and rifles cast away. They had no more use for them. They now stood in their preferred attire that could be described as nothing other than pirate garb. Although the group stood aboard a ship that floated on the sea, the village, seeing the legendary crew of deadly men, kept far away, many moving on to start a new life. They left the ship in their port to go build a new village on another part of the island. Although they could see the man in the center of the mob of men was very much dead, they had a foreboding feeling that it wouldn't stay that way. Men so evil did not usually give up so quickly.

Every eye of the crew was fixed upon the horizon for the eerie green sails of the ship they waited to arrive for when it came, it would be another step toward their goal and victory, the victory their now silent captain had promised them.

The lips on the body of the captain Bloody Shane remained curled up in a sinister smile. It seemed that even in death the man was sure of himself, sure of his success. All he had to do now was wait.


	21. Chapter 21

**_I thank you all so much, from the bottom of my heart, for the reviews and encouragement. Your enthusiasm in my work makes it all worthwhile._**

**_I have had some requests for more updates and I wanted to let everyone know that A Pirates Heart for Me ends here. But FEAR NOT! It continues in the next installment. I didn't want to go beyond 20 chapters in one story so it is going to be a trilogy. If you enjoyed what you read in A Pirates Heart for Me, the story continues in the next "book," Hearts Wings. Head on over there to continue the story._**

**_Again, I appreciate the support and value all of your opinions._**

**_A special shout out to Cristalake who had some questions for me. Savvy is equivalent to saying "get it?" It's a word that basically means "do you understand what I just said?" And I laughed when I read what you said about the reviews. Thanks for your concern mate. It makes me feel special._**

**_Thanks again to all and I really hope to hear from you all over at Hearts Wings, savvy?_**

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**_DaringDreamer_**


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